First, the writer seems... in need of some clues on history

In the post-colonial arena following the advent of World War II on the African continent, the cultural line of demarcation has become the Arabic Islamist North - littoral Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco - and the mostly Animist and partially Christian central and sub-Saharan south.

However, despite the Arabic history of slave-trading and subjugation of its native African majority, numbering in the hundreds of millions, Islam has become the fastest-growing religion on that continent, bringing with it its political, as well as economic, influence.

Islamist.

Well, cut the idiot a clue, no doubt he mistook Islamist for the proper noun for Muslim (or Islamic).

The characterization of sub-Saharan Africa as mostly Animist or Christian is wildly wrong, of course.

The Arab history of slave trading is merely bizarre (as is subjugation, a queer thing to raise in the context of opening in mentioning European colonialism, and the rather trivial Arab presence in SSA) in an article about investment. I am hard pressed to think of a rational for an article on say UK or American investment in say Cote d'Ivoire that began with "despite a history of slave trading and colonial rule....."

Never mind:

Flush with oil wealth, the super-rich Gulf States are discerning profitable opportunities among the hundreds of millions of Muslims and others, who live on the other side of the Red Sea.

Africa's economies are growing at more than six percent annually, thanks primarily to the commodities boom. It's a given that the huge continent harbors the largest concentration of a highly sought-after variety of resources.

In addition, one should add, that economic reforms have finally made it possible in the better run countries to see investment in key backbone services, e.g. financial intermediation, and financing of actually useful infrastructure projects with private management (e.g. see these kinds of developments).

Despite the fact that the bulk of Africa's 800 million population is still among the least economically developed in the world, a greater number than ever are evolving into positions where bank accounts are a matter of course.

Gulf State bankers are counting on the fact that such a growing middle class, especially from the Muslim north, will turn to Islamic finance. They hope that indigenous firms will have money through Islamic banks known as Sukuk.

This last item is just, well, confused. Bonds are sukouk - banks are banks.

It is interesting to read the boosterism of the Islamic Finance crowd in touting sheer numbers of Muslims in the world, but outside of countries with a strong Salafi bent in their public discourse, the higher expense of Islamic products for, what is in the end merely legal contortions for the same product, strikes me as not promising vast growth in the niche. It is, in the end, a luxury product, like other "ethical" investing modes.

Oddly the remainder of the article seems to be plagarized from a better informed source, but in any case, the flow of private capital to SSA, and growing Maghrebine - largely Moroccan driven - investment is real and rational. Indeed, Indian investments have begun, although clearly driven by primary resources, there are also investments in modern ag production.