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Starting a Business in Africa

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Starting a Business in Africa

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Doing Business in Africa

As the world's second largest, and second most populous continent, Africa would seem to be an obvious choice as a trading partner, or as somewhere to do business. Add to that huge wealth in natural resources, a young population and a rising middle class of potential customers and the arguments in favour of doing business in Africa seem obvious.

Yet many companies that have established an overseas presence in various parts of the world have yet to successfully trade in or with the African continent.

And by defining Africa in and of itself as a potential trade partner is one of the inherent dangers faced by companies with this broad agenda. For Africa, as well as being huge, is also hugely diverse.

For simplicity sake, we've chosen here to give generic advice on starting a business in Africa, or on expanding a business in Africa. But in the same way that South Africa is thousands of miles away from Sierra Leone, so culturally, linguistically and economically are the two neighbouring states of Angola and Zambia, or Kenya and Cameroun.

To do business in Africa it is important to follow the normal commercial rules - will my product sell in the African market, is there demand for my services in Africa, is my pricing structure appropriate etc. But there are also different rules of doing business, and indeed those rules will change depending on which part of Africa you choose to do business in.

To do business in Algeria, you may need to converse with potential partners in Arabic but to do business in Zimbabwe then English will be better.

To do business in another part of Africa, religion will play little part in your decision making process, whilst in another it might be the first question you need to ask.

The opportunities to do business in Africa are endless - with key markets ripe for development - agriculture and raw materials through to telecoms and tourism

As with trading anywhere in the world, local knowledge is paramount. Research the market thoroughly, research your potential partners ( distributors, sales agents etc) equally thoroughly. Find yourself a trusted friend who can advise on the complex issue of doing business in Africa. Find an organisation with a network of suppliers, who know the legal issues you may face, and importantly knows which questions to ask - and who to ask.

 

Below we've put together the headline statistics for the majority of the African countries, but use these pages to find the right suppliers to help your company start trading in Africa.

Country

Capital

Currency

Business Language(s)

Algeria

Algiers

Algerian dinar

Arabic

Angola

Luanda

Kwansa

Portuguese

Benin

Porto Novo

West African CFAfranc

French

Botswana

Gaborone

Pula

English, Setwana

Burkina Faso

Ouagadougou

West African CFA Franc

French

Burundi

Bujumbura

Burundi franc

Kirundi, French

Cameroon

Yaounde

Central African CFA franc

French, English

Cape Verde

Praia

Cape verdean escudo

Portuguese

Central African Republic Bangui

Bangui

Central African CFA franc

French

Chad

N'Jamena

Central African CFA franc

French, Arabic

Comoros

Moroni

Comorian Franc

Arabic, French

Côte d'Ivoire

Yamoussoukro

West African CFA franc

French

Democratic Republic of Congo

Kinshasa

Congolese franc

French

Djibouti

Djibouti

Djiboutian Franc

Arabic, French

Egypt

Cairo

Egyptian Pound

Arabic

Equatorial Guinea

Malabo

Central African CFA franc

Spanish, French, Portuguese

Eritrea

Asmara

Nakfa

Tigrinya, Arabic, English

Ethiopia

Addis Ababa

Ethiopian birr

Amharic, English

Gabon

Libreville

Central African CFA franc

French

Gambia

Banjul

Dalasi

English

Ghana

Accra

Ghanaian cedi

English

Guinea

Conakry

Guinean franc

French

Guinea-Bissau

Bissau

West African CFA franc

Portuguese

Kenya

Nairobi

Kenyan shilling

Swahili, English

Lesotho

Maseru

Loti

Sesotho, English

Liberia

Tripoli

Libyan Diner

Arabic

Madagascar

Antananarivo

Malagasy Ariary

Malagasy, French

Malawi

Lilongwe

Malawian kwacha

English, Chichewa

Mali

Bamako

West African CFA franc

French

Mauritania

Nouakchott

Mauritanian Ouguiya

Arabic

Mauritius

Port Louis

Mauritian rupee

English, French, Mauritian Creole

Morocco

Rabat

Moroccan dirham

Arabic, Berber

Mozambique

Maputo

Mozambican metical

Portuguese

Namibia

Windhoek

Namibian dollar

English

Niger

Niamey

West African CFA franc

French

Nigeria

Abuja

Nigerian naira

English

Republic of Congo

Brazzaville

Central African CFA franc

French

Rwanda

Kigali

Rwandan franc

Kinyarwanda, French, English

São Tomé and Príncipe

São Tomé

São Tomé and Príncipe Dobra

Portuguese

Senegal

Dakar

West African CFA franc

French

Seychelles

Victoria

Seychellois rupee

English, French, Seychellois Creole

Sierra Leone

Freetown

Leone

English

Somalia

Mogadishu

Somali shilling

Somali, Arabic

South Africa

Bloemfontein, Cape Town, and Pretoria

South African rand

Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sesotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu

South Sudan

Juba

South Sudanese pound

English

Sudan

Khartoum

Sudanese pound

Arabic, English

Swaziland

Lobamba (royal and legislative)
Mbabane (administrative)

Lilangeni

English, Swati

Tanzania

Dodoma

Tanzanian shilling

Swahili, English

Togo

Lomé

West African CFA franc

French

Tunisia

Tunis

Tunisian dinar

Arabic

Uganda

Kampala

Ugandan shilling

English, Swahili

Zambia

Lusaka

Zambian kwacha

English

Zimbabwe

Harare

United States dollar and South African rand

Shona, Ndebele, English

Click here to Ask an Expert about Starting a Business in Africa

Organisations that can assist with Starting a Business

  • > Blue Marble Global Payroll

    Simplified Global Payroll Managing payroll across multiple countries is complicated – with unique requirements, systems, and deadlines in each country, it can be difficult to ensure compliance. Using manual processes or spreadsheets to manage payroll can lead to errors, data security issues, and penalties. Blue Marble solves your challenges with secure, cloud-based global payroll technology, aggregated monthly reporting, and in-country experts in 100+ countries.

    More Details Visit Website
  • > Nominus.com

    When expanding your business to Africa, don’t forget to protect your brand. We provide Trademark Registration services in African countries through the ARIPO and OAPI treaties.

    More Details Visit Website

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