According to a new research paper from Knight Frank, Dubai is set to become Africa’s staging post, as it presents businesses with a well-connected, strategically located trade hub.
The global property consultancy released its UAE Industrial and Logistics Research Report for Q3 2015, and noted Dubai’s ability to increase trade with Africa and be a point of entry to the continent’s $3 trillion economy.
The report, like so many others, states that Africa’s economies will grow, on average, 4.5 percent in 2015 and 5 percent in 2016 and will have excellent growth prospects over the next ten years.
Knight Frank therefore asserts that the rising incomes of African consumers are encouraging companies across the UAE to look west, particularly from the manufacturing/assembly units and warehouses of Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) and Dubai South (formerly DWC).

With much of the continent lacking adequate infrastructure and integration in terms of cross-border trade, it is unsurprising that Dubai stands out as a prospective hub. Moving and storing goods in inefficient warehouses, across poor roads and closed borders are cited in the report as Africa’s problem areas, making it more cost-effective for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) businesses to operate from cities such as Dubai than in Africa itself.
There has been rapid expansion of airlines Emirates, flydubai and Etihad over the last year into African destinations, against a backdrop of cargo and passenger traffic at Dubai’s airport growing at their fastest pace in May this year since 2013.

Much of the goods for infrastructure developments will have to pass through neighbouring centres, such as the UAE’s shipping and aviation hubs, before reaching Iran. As it does not have the access to superior infrastructure that the UAE has developed, Chinese and European goods are expected to go via Dubai.
The report also says Dubai will increase its appeal with the further integration of the Dubai South and JAFZA free zones, which will enable seamless movement of goods and services along the bonded transport and logistics corridor from Jebel Ali Free port to Dubai South Airport.

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Follow Erika Amoako-Agyei: Erika Amoako-Agyei is an experienced intercultural trainer & business consultant with business expertise covering the sub-region of Africa. She trains and offers consulting services to global companies and non-profit organizations expanding into Africa. As a visiting professor, she also teaches intercultural communications  graduate and undergraduate students.

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What are the opportunities of investing in Africa? In this episode, African experts and CEOs share perspectives on investing across various sectors in Africa and how the challenges transform into opportunities for business.

Video No. 4, titled “Opportunities in Africa – Investing Across Sectors” is the fourth installment in IGD's video series, “Changing Perceptions: Addressing the Misperceptions of Investing in Africa.” 

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Follow Erika Amoako-Agyei: Erika Amoako-Agyei is an experienced intercultural trainer & business consultant with business expertise covering the sub-region of Africa. She trains and offers consulting services to global companies and non-profit organizations expanding into Africa. As a visiting professor, she also teaches intercultural communications  graduate and undergraduate students.

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For more information about the project, visit: http://www.igdleaders.org/media-cente...
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Electricity supply in Africa is in a very sorry state. In many countries on the continent, less than 20 percent of the population has access to electricity; the situation is much worse in rural areas where fewer than 5 percent are connected to the grid. 

Did you know that all the 48 countries of Sub-saharan Africa (with a combined population of more than 750 million) generate roughly the same amount of power as Spain (a single country of less than 50 million people)? Our continent has arguably the worst electric power infrastructure in the world with the lowest scores in power generation, consumption and security of supply!

With an average of 325 days of bright sunlight every year, solar power remains one of Africa’s most abundant but scarcely used resources. It presents a lucrative business opportunity and makes for an amazing business idea for the continent. Entrepreneurs like Tanzania’s Patrick Ngowi are already making millions from this huge gap between electricity demand and supply. 

If you're unaware of the solar power revolution that's going on in Africa, this short video will open your eyes to the enormous potentials of solar power both as a lucrative business opportunity and the surest way to bring electricity to millions of Africans!

Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Rwanda are some of the markets with the highest potentials for solar power in Africa

Interesting links:

Solar energy is Africa’s next big thing! How entrepreneurs can exploit this lucrative but untapped opportunity:
http://www.smallstarter.com/browse-id...

Patrick Ngowi – The young entrepreneur who built a multi-million dollar business from solar energy:
http://www.smallstarter.com/get-inspi...

World Bank's Fact Sheet: Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa : http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTER...

101 Ways To Make Money in Africa – Business Ideas and Success Stories That Will Inspire the Entrepreneur in You!:
http://www.smallstarter.com/get-inspi...
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Follow Erika Amoako-Agyei: Erika Amoako-Agyei is an intercultural business consultant with regional expertise on the sub-region of Africa. She works with global companies, non-profits and educational institutions expanding into Africa.

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Volkswagen is set to receive an eye-watering fine for cheating on emissions testing for its diesel engines; the automotive manufacturer admitted that it used sophisticated software installed across 11 million of its cars. While this seems to be a scandal centred on the US and Europe, it will have global ramifications, including for the African continent.

South Africa and Nigeria are the only countries that actually have emissions standards for passenger cars; the South African government has announced that it would investigate the Volkswagen vehicles in the country.


But because there are hardly any emissions standards to speak of in Africa, the continent could become the “sink” for all the offending vehicles from Europe and North America.

The whole controversy could end up bringing air pollution standards to the forefront of many government’s agendas. There has already been a promise made by East African countries to transition to low sulphur diesel for cars, trucks and buses.

The scandal could also impact the platinum industry, of which South Africa is a major producer; according to reporting from Mail & Guardian Africa, 44 percent of platinum demand comes from devices that mitigate harmful gases from cars, particularly diesel.

SAP has announced the start of Africa Code Week, a continent-wide initiative to spread digital literacy and simplify access to coding education for young people. From October 1-10, 2015, online sessions and hundreds of free coding workshops will be organized for children and youth aged 8 to 24 across 17 countries: Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda.

“Digital literacy has the power to put millions of young Africans on the path to successful careers,” said Mr. Rachid Belmokhtar, the Minister of Education and Vocational Training of the Kingdom of Morocco. “Trained, tech-savvy graduates are needed to improve Africa’s position in the globally competitive knowledge economy. Everyone — from governments and educational institutions all the way to NGOs and corporations — has a role to play to spread digital literacy across Africa.”

Africa Code Week is part of SAP’s effort to bridge this digital skills gap and drive sustainable growth in Africa. The company already invests in the SAP® Skills for Africa program, which provides additional business and IT skills to recent university graduates. Africa Code Week reinforces that commitment to graduates while extending it to primary and secondary students, creating a full cycle of skills support for young people in Africa.

Founded and orchestrated by SAP in partnership with Simplon.co, AMPION, the Galway Education Centre, the Cape Town Science Centre and the King Baudouin Foundation, Africa Code Week is supported by a fast-growing network of local governments, international and local educational organizations, NGOs and software companies across the continent. Google Inc. also joined Africa Code Week as a strategic partner to support local organizers of computer science and coding activities all over Africa.

Africa has the fastest growing digital consumer market and the largest working-age population in the world. The World Economic Forum* expects the population of Africa to double to 1 billion by 2050, exceeding that of China and India. The potential problems triggered by this boom in working-age youth is compounded by a lack of educational opportunities, technology training in particular. At the same time, African companies are scrambling to fill positions with employees who possess the right digital skills. Only one percent of African children leave school with basic coding skills.

In preparation for Africa Code Week, SAP has deployed its own IT experts as volunteers to train adults, parents, teachers and government staff, giving them the tools they need to bring coding knowledge to children and youth. To-date, they have already trained 1,500 educators.

Workshops for the 8-11 and 12-17 age groups are based on Scratch, the famous system developed by the MIT Media Lab to simplify the face of coding for the young generation. Provided free of charge, Scratch makes coding accessible to anyone and is being used by millions of kids and teens around the world to create and share interactive stories, animations and games. Via the openSAP platform, SAP also offers free massive open online courses (MOOCs) for those who cannot attend Africa Code Week events or who want to take their Scratch programming experience to the next level. Local organizers will be able to setup computer science clubs in schools and introduce students aged 9-14 to computer science using the free and easy-to-use Google CS First enrichment materials.

Students aged 18-24 will learn how to leverage Web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript, as well as Meteor.js. to create their own WhatsApp clone, a simple messaging app that runs on mobile devices. In parallel, AMPION Africa Code Week buses will tour Rwanda and the Western Cape in South Africa to allow children in rural areas to join the coding revolution.

“Over the next decade, Africa’s youth will determine whether the continent wins or loses the game,” said Pfungwa Serima, Executive Chairman, SAP Africa. “The Digital Economy is here and the opportunities is presents are manifold. If we equip young Africans with the best technology, give them skills that make them relevant to the job market and empower them to be bold and innovative, we’ll see them do amazing things.”

SAP invites other companies and non-profit organizations to help place African youth on the path to successful digital careers by joining the growing team of Africa Code Week partners.

To learn more, visit the Africa Code Week website.

​Follow Erika Amoako-Agyei: Erika Amoako-Agyei is an intercultural business consultant with regional expertise on the sub-region of Africa. She works with global companies, non-profits and educational institutions expanding into Africa.

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Addis Ababa is set to be the first city in sub-Saharan Africa to play host to a light rail metro system, which comes online this month after undergoing testing since its completion in January.  

The 32-kilometre Addis Metro line cost $474 million to deliver and is expected to carry 15,000 people per hour in a single direction with an estimated top speed of 70 kilometres per hour.


The line is supported by 39 stations (which all have their own names) a network of alleyways, 12 of which has escalators, and 22 elevators.

The green trams will from October operate on the city’s East-West route, while those coloured blue are now shuttling between north and south. Fares will be relatively low, which reflects a heavy level of government subsidy.


The tramcars rely on power supplied mainly from overhead wires, but authorities have indicated that the system will have its own dedicated grid, including four substations to supply 160MW of power.

The metro took three years to construct and was delivered by the China Railway Group Limited after the Ethiopian government secured 85 percent of the required funding from the Export-Import Bank of China. The Chinese were also responsible for training drivers and maintenance workers; another company from China constructed the supporting power system.


Africa’s only other light rail systems are found in the North, so this development represents a first for all the nations lying below the Sahara Desert.


Source [Mail and Guardian Africa] 

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Follow Erika Amoako-Agyei: Erika Amoako-Agyei is an intercultural business consultant with regional expertise on the sub-region of Africa. She works with global companies, non-profits and educational institutions expanding into Africa.

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The Top Employers Institute has revealed the top 10 businesses currently creating exceptional conditions for their staff members in Africa right now.

Following on from yesterday’s countdown specific to South Africa, we take a look today at the businesses who are taking more of a continental approach and especially those who manage to instil a consistent philosophy of quality into the organisation when it comes to employee satisfaction across numerous countries.

In each year’s list for the entire continent, one standout winner is selected, with the other nine receiving official certification in no particular order. For the purposes of this article, we’ve counted down from nine to two in accordance with continental saturation to establish an official rundown.

Regardless of the order though, the global familiarity of the company’s listed and rate of expansion occurring for each of these heavyweight organisations confirms Old Mutual Group Chief Executive, Julian Roberts’ statement that “Africa will be the success story in the next decades…Africa is on the move and it is moving forward”.

10. Becton Dickinson

Split into four subsidiaries situated in the west and east of the continent as well as in South Africa and Zambia, Becton Dickinson’s influence in Africa has flourished since establishing its first office in the latter of those locations in 1995.

The global medical technology company’s dedication not only to its own personnel but to the wider African population has been a pivotal reason for the company’s ongoing regional success.

9. Microsoft

Having made South Africa’s countdown, Microsoft’s presence in other key economies including Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria makes its continental influence equally impressive.

Similarly to Becton Dickinson, its CSR philosophy through initiatives such as its Microsoft 4Afrika drive is replicated through its employee care and development.

“The world is looking for the next growth pole and Africa is positioned to be exactly that. As investors assess industries and sectors to fund, there is a keen interest in exploring the future multinational companies that will come out of Africa,” said Fernando de Sousa, general Manager of Africa Initiatives at Microsoft.

8. Old Mutual

Old Mutual is another company to bridge the two countdowns and has done so off the back of its recently revealed plans to expand its operations across Africa to the tune of a R5 billion investment.

The company’s ongoing commitment to African prosperity is one that has been engrained into the organisation for more than 150 years.

“We believe that the prospects for growth in Africa are underpinned by sustainable, structural factors,” Chief Executive, Julian Roberts said.

7. SAP Africa

SAP Africa’s recent focus on mobility is primarily being applied to aid the development of all people in optimising new and sometimes complicated technological innovations.

This can stem to independent individuals and businesses but is also very much applied into its internal development, making sure that the company practices what it preaches.

Merlin Knott, SAP Africa’s Director of Business Analytics, said: “The momentum around mobile analytics is increasing exponentially as it has proven to be a critical element to transforming businesses. It is also completely aligned with the current hype surrounding cloud computing, big data and BYOD (bring your own device).”

6. British American Tobacco

British America Tobacco’s vision is to strengthen its position as the leading tobacco company in the EMA region and, since 2007, this vision has certainly reaped rewards from is labours.

Overcoming supply difficulties in some areas, the company’s flexibility has been translated into continuous margin improvements and is also subsequently reflected in the productivity and continuous improvement of its employees.

5. DHL

According to Industry Research Manager, Cornelis van der Waal, DHL’s expansion across Africa has been an aggressive one, epitomised by ongoing commitment via investment and continuous improvement strategies,

He said: “Their foray into the informal retail market, and their partnership with postal operators, has seen the company more than quadruple its retail outlets across the continent in just a few months. It is an impressive story, and one that needed to be recognised.”

Sumesh Rahavendra, Head of Marketing for DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, said the key to the company’s success in Africa is due to its customer service and employee commitment.

4. EY

“Underpinning our ambitious growth strategy and pan-African vision is the understanding that attracting and retaining the best talent to deliver seamless and innovative solutions to our clients across the continent is essential.” These the words of EY CEO, Ajen Sita.

“Our best-in-class HR practices are available to all 28 countries in Africa, from our world-class training across the board, to our wellness strategy, mobility programmes and Africa-wide culture programmes, to name a few.”

Sita’s dedication to maintaining EY’s strong influence in Africa is supported by the company’s overall vision to “build a better working world”.

3. Orange

As one of the chasing pack behind the likes of MTN and Vodacom, Orange can often rely on its employee satisfaction rates to level the playing fields in what is an ever-swinging pendulum of a telecoms industry.

Alongside its people management ethos, the company has also received critical acclaim for its commitment to environmental strategies and particularly the recycling of mobile devices which has been in place for nearly a decade.

2. G4S

G4S is the second largest employer in the world and spans 129 countries so it should come as no surprise that the company’s influence in Africa is also widespread.

Forming a positive reputation for something as individually significant as working conditions is perhaps even more of achievement though and is certainly something that Regional President for Africa, Andy Baker takes great pride in.

“We try to push lead decision making within individual countries; and try to think globally and act locally so that our employees across the region are empowered to make decisions locally and also forge local relationships,” he said.  

“Across the global business we have a strategic leadership programme, and this identifies talented, high potential people and brings them into project work.

“We have specific internal and external education for them to enhance their development and that works very well. In Africa we do something similar and where necessary we send people overseas to different institutions if we think that is going to accelerate their development.”

1. Unilever

It’s official – not only is consumer goods company, Unilever the top company to work for in South Africa, but this same level of quality is officially replicated across the whole of Africa in the eyes of the Top Employers Institute.

Taking SAP’s mantle from last year – a year where Unilever also made the top 10 certified list – the company was praised especially for its talent strategy, workforce planning, learning and development strategies, performance management, leadership development, career and succession management, compensation and benefits, and company culture.

“Unilever is a global organisation with products sold in over 190 countries. Our HR standards and practices therefore have to be world-class,” said Vice President for Human Resources for Unilever Central Africa, Mechell Chetty. “Africa is no different and its unique challenges and socio-economic landscape should never be a pardon for having anything less than the best HR professional standards.

“With Unilever’s growth ambitions in Africa, it is critical to attract, develop and retain the best talent across the continent. The Top Employer Africa certification helps cement our position as a leading employer on the African continent.”

Follow Erika Amoako-Agyei: Erika Amoako-Agyei is an intercultural business consultant with regional expertise on the sub-region of Africa. She works with global companies, non-profits and educational institutions expanding into Africa.

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KIGALI - It sounds like science fiction: unmanned drones carrying emergency medicine zooming above the rolling hills of Rwanda.

But proposals -- including one by eminent British architect Norman Foster -- plan exactly that, to set up "cargo drone routes capable of delivering urgent and precious supplies to remote areas on a massive scale", with the East Africa nation of Rwanda chosen as a test case.

"Specialist drones can carry blood and life-saving supplies over 100 kilometres (60 miles) at minimal cost, providing an affordable alternative that can complement road-based deliveries," the proposal reads.

Rwanda, left in ruins after genocide in 1994, has rapidly rebuilt with the government pushing initiatives to boost technology and the powerful ruler President Paul Kagame dreaming of turning the capital Kigali into a regional hub for investors and multinational companies.

Government efforts have rapidly pushed mobile phone and internet coverage across the landlocked nation, but the rolling landscape of a nation dubbed the "land of a thousand hills" means physical access to some areas is more of a challenge.

The proposal -- by architecture firm Foster + Partners, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and its linked Afrotech company -- hopes to see drones with a three-metre (10-foot) wingspan able to carry deliveries weighing 10 kilogrammes (22 pounds).

Drones with a six-metre (19.5 foot) wingspan, capable of carrying payloads of 100 kilogrammes (220 pounds) are planned to follow by 2025. 

"Africa is a continent where the gap between the population and infrastructural growth is increasing exponentially," Foster said at the project launch earlier this month.

"The dearth of terrestrial infrastructure has a direct impact on the ability to deliver life-giving supplies, indeed where something as basic as blood is not always available for timely treatment. We require immediate bold, radical solutions to address this issue," Foster said.

The pilot project is slated to begin next year, with three "drone-port" buildings due for completion by 2020, enabling the drones to cover almost half of Rwanda's countryside.

While Rwanda's government has yet to comment on the proposals, people have welcomed the plan.

"The introduction of drones can add to the many solutions we have available to tackle infrastructure challenges in Rwanda," Junior Sabena Mutabazi wrote in a the pro-government New Times newspaper.

Rwanda, small, tightly controlled and where there is only modern infrastructure in key hubs, offers the chance to test case cargo drones before possible expansion into wilder, less developed countries on the continent.

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"The Droneport project is about doing 'more with less', capitalising on the recent advancements in drone technology -- something that is usually associated with war and hostilities -- to make an immediate life-saving impact in Africa," Foster said.

Those developing the project point out that in many parts of Africa, too remote to establish telephone landlines, mobile technology leapfrogged that step, with mobiles now common across the continent even in the remotest of places.

Drones, it is argued, could do the same where a lack of roads has made access tough.


"Cargo drone routes have utility wherever there is a lack of roads," the project proposal said.

"Just as mobile phones dispensed with landlines, cargo drones can transcend geographical barriers such as mountains, lakes, and unnavigable rivers without the need for large-scale physical infrastructure."

Jonathan Ledgard, from Swiss-based Afrotech  -- an initiative aiming to "help pioneer advanced technologies in Africa at massive scale" -- knows the challenges, having worked as a journalist in trouble spots across the continent for the past decade.

Ledgard is convinced cargo drones will be the future, but is also determined the technology will benefit those who need it most.

"It is inevitable on a crowded planet, with limited resources, that we will make more intensive use of our sky using flying robots to move goods faster, cheaper, and more accurately than ever before," Ledgard said.

"But it is not inevitable that these craft or their landing sites will be engineered to be tough and cheap enough to serve poorer communities who can make most use of them," he said.

"Droneport is an attempt to make that happen, and to improve health and economic outcomes in Africa – and beyond."
- AFP

Follow Erika Amoako-Agyei: Erika Amoako-Agyei is an intercultural business consultant with regional expertise on the sub-region of Africa. She works with global companies, non-profits and educational institutions expanding into Africa.

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