Africa, the growing focus of new markets to consider

Welcome to the new Mubasher from Foreign Company, Digital Foreign Business Spain. Today we focus on AfricaIt is a continent of more than 1200 million people and there is still great ignorance about it, but every time Spanish companies Set as the destination for a file internationalization.

According to the reportDevelopment Dynamics in Africa 2019: Achieving a Productive Transformation, Prepared by African Union Commission And the OECD Development Center, African GDP growth is expected to reach 3.9% between 2020 and 2023.

To delve deeper into the realities of the African continent and the business opportunities it provides, we had it Maria Jose Hernando, Head of CESCE Country Risk Unit. However, we are reviewing the aspects that make the African continent attractive to companies, and the most dynamic economies in the UAE Africa, The main risks and products that companies have to cover those risks.

We summarize the highlights he made to us:

In the last fifteen years, per capita income has tripled, and Africa is the region of the world that is growing the fastest and has a very large population in expansion, with many needs of all kinds.

Two structural changes in Africa: There is greater political stability and debt relief program.

More dynamic economies? Now, oil-producing countries are going through worse times, and producers of raw materials face more or less difficulties depending on prices, but there are other countries that have smaller but more diversified economies that are growing a lot, such as Senegal, Ghana, Benin, Rwanda, it’s Uganda.

In recent years, we are witnessing a growing interest in some countries Sub-Saharan AfricaThen another thing is the number of companies that curd. We have a lot of experience with Angola or Kenya, And in the last 2/3 years, we revised our coverage policy and will open coverage capacity in 10/15 countries, such as Ghana, Cameroon, Rwanda, Benin, Uganda and East African countries such as Madagascar or Tanzania.

Cesce does not provide financing, what it does is accompany companies to try to reduce risks when they travel abroad. Depending on the needs, the coverage will be different: the company to issue, what it does is cover the possibility of non-payment, and it can cover the risk of termination of the contract; Warranties can cover …

Advice for companies wanting to do business in Africa? Before doing anything, they should evaluate the opportunities it offers as well as the risks. Some markets are very complex. There are many countries that still suffer from problems of instability and conflict: war, terrorism … There are countries that suffer from lack of infrastructure, others suffer from problems at work, and some countries are in debt again.