Outbreak making investors skittish

Ebola epidemic casts a shadow over Africa's largest economy, and many firms have put expansion on hold, reports Li Lianxing in Nairobi.

With the rapid spread of Ebola in four African countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria - concern has risen about the safety of traveling, living and investing in those countries. Inevitably, these economies are facing tough challenges.

But more worrisome for economists and investors is the size of the economic impact if a truly large-scale epidemic breaks out in Africa's most populous country, Nigeria. It is also the biggest economy on the continent with gross domestic product of $510 billion and a growth rate of 6.8 percent in 2013.