The Handbook provides an overview of economic development activity and trends on the continent, and as such relates to key trading partners and allies of Africa, as well as identifying useful global public and private trade and investment assistance resources that support business development on the continent.
As a step-by-step guide to global, multilateral, pan-African, pan-regional, and national public and private resources, the African Business Handbook assists you in:
The Handbook provides the following material:
Section I: Africa in profile
This section provides and introduction to the African market. Information is presented on Africa’s demographics, geography, economy, natural resources, key commercial centres, important regional economic communities, and the continent’s catalytic economic sectors.
This section includes an overview and analysis of the three leading regional trade and investment partners of Africa: Europe, the United States and Asia. Industries and multilateral donor initiatives that are currently being promoted in Africa are discussed in this section.
Special legislation that facilitates increased African market access in Europe and the United States is presented, as are various bilateral and multilateral programmes and institutional resources that can be accessed for those pursuing African business-related transactions. Numerous charts and graphs are included to help illustrate points discussed in this section.
Section II: Africa by the numbers
This section provides a statistical look at Africa and includes selected statistics and African economic indicators, as well as useful charts.
Section III: A step-by-step guide to public and private assistance for African business development
Step I – Market information and Africa-related trade and investment opportunities
The first step toward exploring business opportunities in Africa involves identifying markets suitable for your product, service or investment. The first step toward exploring global business opportunities, including those in other parts of Africa, involves similar ‘market research’.
This section lists local, national, pan-regional, pan-African, multilateral, and bilateral resources that provide market and sectoral information and trade and investment leads and opportunities related to African countries or sectors in which African enterprises have a competitive advantage or are competitive globally because of natural resource abundance.
This information will assist you in deciding which export, investment or import markets and business opportunities are best for your company. The resources listed in this section will help you to identify business contacts, determine the best sectors and products to select for trade and help identify attractive investment opportunities.
Step II – Trade and investment counseling and technical assistance
After you have identified an appropriate product, service or investment opportunity and targeted a potential market or markets, this section directs you to the international trade and investment specialists who can give you counselling and assistance
in implementing the various steps required to consummate an Africa (or globally) related business transaction.
This section provides sources of information on local business practices, regulations, customs and tariffs, tax regimes, licensing requirements, etc. The international business experts listed in this section can help you to assess the competitive advantages of your product and prepare your firm to successfully compete in your chosen market(s).
Step III – Missions and matchmaking
Once you have found a market and assessed the market entry requirements, a business visit to the country chosen to obtain an up close view of the marketplace and business environment is a recommended endeavour.
For investment projects such a visit is an imperative – and often many visits will be required. Even for trade transactions, a key component of successful exporting is participation in international and domestic trade shows to directly contact foreign buyers and contractors.
This section lists matchmaking services and other public and private sources of information about specific industry trade shows where buyers and sellers and investors and project promoters connect – in Africa and abroad.
Step IV – Assistance in finance and investments
For most businesses, finding trade and investment finance will be the hardest part of putting together their international business transaction. This section lists a diverse cross section of providers of capital (debt, private equity, grants, multilateral, bilateral, African, global, bilateral) and provides information on institutions that offer finance-related technical assistance for companies interested in doing business in, or related to, Africa.
Step V – Political risk insurance
For many companies, the perception that doing business in Africa, particularly investing on the continent, presents huge risks serves as a deterrent for them to
enter into transactions on the continent. Acknowledging that there is political volatility in various countries in Africa, this section lists institutions that provide political risk insurance for projects undertaken in Africa.
Section IV – Policy makers in Africa
Africa today remains for the most part dominated by public sector actors. Very little business can successfully be done without engagement with the public sector and developing the capacity to negotiate within the African policy environment and politic environment. This section provides insight to some of the key governmental and non-governmental institutions that shape African policy, generally, and economic policy specifically.
Section V – Africa business related continuing education
Despite impressive gains in this regard, access to education in Africa remains a challenge. In this ‘knowledge age’ of the 21st century, Africa still grapples to educate its youth
and provide cutting-edge industry knowledge and techniques to its professionals.
Furthermore, as regards the dissemination of knowledge about business development in Africa specifically, there are still far too few resources to which one who aspires to develop expertise in this area can turn. Thus, this section provides a listing of various resources available for the Africa business development practitioner.
Section VI – Selected news resources on Africa
This section of the publication provides you with information about various sources of news on Africa – both perspectives from abroad and from the continent. These resources are critical to serious businesspersons looking to stay abreast of developments on the fast-evolving continent. News is critical for those in Africa to follow so that one can remain aware of change, development, growth and decline in farther flung parts of the world.
Section VII – African country
profiles
This section provides you with information on specific country-related economic indices on the continent and provides a useful web reference that offers an aggregation of online public and private information that relates to each country.
Section VIII – Index of sections and topics
This section is provided for efficient use of the Handbook and for quick access to the material therein. Meant to serve as a practical desk reference, this section of the resource is meant to make navigation of the contents logical and easy.
About the editor
Michael Sudarkasa is the principal author and editor of the African Business Handbook. Of Nigerian and African-American heritage, he was born, raised and educated in the United States but has been a resident in Johannesburg, South Africa, since January 1999.
A US licensed commercial transaction attorney who completed his Juris Doctor degree at Harvard Law School, he is an African economic development specialist and practitioner and the CEO of the Africa Business Group, which includes Africa Business Consulting, Africa Business Media, Africa Business Tourism, and Africa Business Relocation.
A former Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Business of Georgetown University, Sudarkasa is the co-author of Investing in Africa: An Insider’s Guide to the Ultimate Emerging Market (John Wiley & Sons, 2000), The South African Exporter’s Handbook 2006, The BEE Handbook 2005 and 2006. He is fluent in French and has lived, worked or studied in 46 countries worldwide, including 31 countries in Africa.
A trade and investment advisor to various agencies of the Welsh Assembly since 2002, over the past seven years Sudarkasa has provided counsel to: the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the African Union, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, the City of Johannesburg’s Department of Economic Development, the South African Council for Science and Industrial Research and the US African Development Foundation.
