Foreign Business in Africa – A locals Perspective

Africa, long frowned upon by the developed world is on an upward trend. With diminishing oil stocks around the world, Energy has become big business and Africa bears the mother lode. Hundreds of foreign companies are moving to Africa. Through direct investments, subsidiaries, Associates, licensed brandings and 3^rd part distributors, everyone wants a piece of the African pie.

But as all these companies come into the continent, there is a growing and worrying trend. With Europe and America having been affected by the economic depression in early 2008, a whole lot of professionals lost their jobs. Suddenly there was an influx in talent with nowhere to place them, thus most of the companies decided to ship them to Africa so as to lead their local growth.

The general concept was for the professionals to impart knowledge to the local population and eventually hand over control to the locals. The idea, though greatly mooted has ended up being a source of frustration for most African workers and a high wage bill for the multinationals. With Europe still suffering, most of the expatriates chose an extension to their contracts, some eventually deciding to settle next to the sunny beaches that their host countries provided.

The telecommunications industry which has been in the news lately for mostly laying off workers (HP, Nokia Siemens, Motorola, Nokia) has one of the largest expatriate numbers in Africa. With a young populace eager to learn, and with the initial knowledge platform provided by the professionals no longer in place, the multinationals are doing more disservice to the economies of the host countries.

Statistically a large number remit their taxes back to their home countries thus not contributing to the growth and development of the states they work in. This in essence robs the countries off millions of dollars in taxes. Foreign counties investing in Africa ought to learn that the tides have changed and no longer will the populace play second fiddle to the expatriates. They will demand to be given the same opportunities to prove themselves.

The use of Africa as the dumping spot for ‘professionals’ from the rest of the world should end as we have with us Africans ready to fill in those shoes and contribute to the growth and development of their countries.