Question 1
1. Mkhize Ltd would like to assess the country risk of South Africa. Mkhize Ltd has identified
various political and financial risk factors, as shown below.
Political Risk Factor Assigned Rating Assigned Weight
Blockage of fund transfers 7 65%
Bureaucracy 3 55%
Financial Risk Factor Assigned Rating Assigned Weight
Interest rate 5 30%
Inflation 6 20%
Exchange rate 5 11%
Competition 4 35%
Growth 7 30%
Mkhize Ltd has assigned an overall rating of 85 percent to political risk factors and of 35 percent
to financial risk factors. The investment policy for Mkhize Ltd mentions that the company can
only invest in a country if the country's risk is below 8.5. Should Mkhize Ltd consider South
Africa for investment?
Should Mkhize Ltd consider South Africa for investment, based on the country risk analysis?
To determine whether Mkhize Ltd should consider investing in South Africa, the company must
assess the country's risk using the provided political and financial risk factors, their respective ratings
and weights, and then compute an overall country risk score. The investment policy of Mkhize Ltd
only allows investment in countries with a risk rating below 8.5.
Step 1: Calculate the Political Risk Score
Political Risk Factor Rating Weight Weighted Score
Blockage of fund 7 65% 7 × 0.65 = 4.55
transfers
Bureaucracy 3 55% 3 × 0.55 = 1.65
Total Political Risk 4.55 + 1.65 = 6.20
Score