By Tony Stone
Victor Kgomoeswana, a Pretoria Portland Cement business development executive, speaking at the SAPICS 2012 conference being held at South Africa’s world renowned pleasure resort, said that there is no such thing as an expert on Africa. There are 54 countries with people as diverse as the terrain itself. The entire populations of 18 countries, including the USA, China, India, Japan and Europe could fit into Africa, which has 20% of the world’s land yet only 15% of its population. Nonetheless, Africa’s in excess of one billion people and sub-Saharan Africa’s 854 million people provide a huge market to the world. Chinese and Indians are emigrating in numbers, leaving their homes and settling in Africa as opportunities present themselves.
Africa is no longer the Dark Continent. It is developed and developing. Countries like China, India, Turkey, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, besides the traditional investors such as the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal, are amongst other countries that are finding Africa a place to invest. Of the 25 Ernst & Young Rapid-Growth Markets identified, four counties are African – Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. Regional integration and intraregional trade are vital to Africa’s economic upliftment and prosperity.
Of the business opportunities identified in Africa, the top three are financial services followed by mobile services as well as infrastructure. Good roads, reliable rail services, efficient ports and harbours, airports built and operated to the highest international standards, electricity, water and sanitation provision is paramount. At the moment, roads are generally in a poor condition but airports are up to international standards. Air freight must therefore be a consideration.
As to water, and because of its location, Ethiopia is currently the biggest hydroelectric project in Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo, with the Congo River offers the biggest opportunity in hydroelectric power. Electricity generation is and will be crucial to Africa’s development. For example, if Rwanda’s plan to place 200 000 personal computers on school desks, electricity will be needed. Whatever the business opportunity in Africa is, to do business in Africa one needs to have an opportunistic, driven and entrepreneurial attitude, leaving nothing to assumption or chance. One needs to unlearn what one has learned so as not to be presumptuous or prejudiced – otherwise opportunities will be missed. More importantly, do not budget for bribes and always ensure you have a reasonable percentage of local ownership – it will make life somewhat easier, and profitable.
