In a survey of U.S. small-to-midsize businesses, Africa garnered the highest percentage of “do not knows” (42 percent) when finance executives were asked how easy or difficult they thought it was to do business in different regions of the world.

A large part of their hesitancy may be driven by a lack of information, according to a report in CFO Magazine.

Duke University/CFO Magazine conducted a Global Business Outlook Survey for the second quarter of 2013 with help from the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.

What emerged from these finance executives’ survey answers is a portrait of Africa as a continent with sizzling market prospects, but with a way to go before it catches up to rapidly developing economies such as China’s.

“Africa is viewed as an incredible opportunity,” says John Graham, a professor of finance at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and director of the survey. “The growth potential in everything from light machinery to consumer goods is a huge untapped market.”

Roger Blanken, vice president of finance, supply chain, for International Flavors & Fragrances, emphasizes the favorable demographics. His company has been running plants in Egypt and South Africa for decades. But “particularly in places like Africa,” says Blanken, “we follow our customers” — primarily large, multinational consumer companies such as Unilever and PepsiCo, which have been targeting the fast-growing consumer segments there.

Finance executives in Africa match their Chinese counterparts in terms of the chances for their own companies’ success, giving themselves a 70 out of a possible 100 on the optimism index.

And they’ll be putting their money where their enthusiasm is. In the survey, Africa-based respondents say that they expect capital spending to increase by 10 percent in the next 12 months. CFOs from African countries seem to spend their money on growth — 69 percent say they will start to spend down cash reserves over the next year, and 70 percent of the spenders will do so primarily to boost capital investment. Marketing and advertising are also expected to see strong increases.

But not all U.S. companies share in this optimism. American companies are more likely to be expanding their international footprints in other regions such as Latin America and Asia, CFO Magazine reports.

Part of their reluctance has to do with the comparative lack of development. “In general, Africa lacks the infrastructure of China, even the basic roads and bridges,” Graham said. “There’s a lot of room for outsiders to help them.”

Then there’s business practices. Half of the African survey respondents cited corruption as a “very significant” risk factor, far outstripping any other region of the world.

“Putting in a new customer — that’s a pretty thoughtful process,” Blanken said. “We usually insist on starting off with smaller orders, until we can establish a more solid basis for trust.” That trust has to be nurtured on the ground, reflected in the emphasis that African finance executives place on their local communities when asked about their commitment to corporate social responsibility goals.

“Once our goods get to the dock,” Blanken said, “the biggest challenge is getting them off the ship, into a truck and delivered. Sometimes that can take as long as the time in the ship.” The way around that problem also takes time. “We’re working with people we know,” says Blanken, “and who have a history of reliability.”