With foreign investment continuing to flow into the continent, there is no shortage of people who want to make it in the business world in Africa.
Although governments and major corporations have been ploughing money into African projects for more than two decades, for many businesses, it is still something of an enigma and so represents an untapped market.
Traditions
Africa has long been known for its wealth in natural resources and commodities such as gold, copper, iron ore, zinc, platinum, and more recently, oil and gas. That is talking about a whole continent, however, so when it comes to a potential business investment, you really need to start narrowing things down.
The IMF predicts an average 5.4% growth this year for Africa’s 48 sub-Saharan countries, home to more than 800 million people. Nigeria’s economy alone grew by 6.2% last year, and in April, it overtook South Africa as the continent’s biggest economy.
Legal requirements
As the continent itself is made up of many nation states, each at different stages of economic development, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to legal requirements about setting up a business.
The main lesson here is to make sure that you are fully aware of the laws in the country you have decided is the best market. For instance, Angola recently introduced a mandatory registration for all traders by requiring them to hold a new license for export and import transactions.
Success stories
Mukesh Valabhji of Capital Management Group is a fourth generation native of the Seychelles who later attended college at the University of New Orleans, graduating in 1983. His success with the Seychelles Marketing Board (SMB) saw him named the general manager of the Board’s Import (also known as Trading) Division at the age of 24. Valabhji became chairman of the Capital Management Group in 2006, providing advice and investment funds to projects in the Seychelles and on an international scale.
Valabhj has a keen eye for new projects, and his ability to draw funds into new areas of investment is a perfect example of the way in which a successful venture can be launched in an emerging market as Africa is today.
Positives (and negatives)
There are many pros and cons of starting a business in Africa right now. With so much promise and potential, the chance for talented individuals to launch new projects is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
By the same token, where there are rewards, there are often risks, and the relatively young nature of many of the economies operating across the continent means that some still have volatile economic and political aspects, which might not suit every entrepreneur.
African future
Whether or not particular regions or countries prove to be stable and ongoing economic success stories, the demographic changes going on across the continent mean it is certain to play a major role in the global market’s future.
One thing is for sure, for those savvy enough to get in at the start, Africa presents plenty of opportunities to make it.