Doing business in Africa

“Africa is the most resource-rich continent on the planet, but the economies of Europe and the United States are even bigger. We believe that the key to growing the African economy is to remove the barriers to doing business efficiently,” says Michelle Olckers, Managing Partner at Mazars Cape Town,

Michelle Olkers, Managing Partner at Mazars, Cape Town

Therefore, companies operating in Africa must have a clear understanding of how to do business in the countries where they wish to trade. This requires establishing the right local relationships and finding the right actors to facilitate business.

“Companies should be aware that they need to partner with organizations that understand the culture of the country they are in, know how to facilitate trade and investment, and can connect them with the right contacts. and customers.

“One of the challenges we have seen so far is the growing reluctance of companies from the rest of Africa to bring their business to South Africa due to the tight controls we have on issues like BEE. international companies don’t know if they will actually be able to operate here, so we need to help the African business sector overcome these obstacles and ensure that this is not a reason to avoid investing here,” she says.

In addition, access to finance has so far been one of the biggest hurdles for SMEs and small businesses looking to establish relationships in other countries.