Africa is a highly resourceful continent with a great return on investments if you can be able to strategize and tap into the huge market. With a population that is almost equal to 1 billion people, your market cannot be bigger. The problem, however, being faced by a lot of people is knowing the right African business idea to invest in. It may be a bit more challenging for those who may not fully understand the African market to invest in but one thing that is more than certain is the huge opportunities the black continent offers to potential investors and marketers. Answers Africa brings you some ideas you may want to consider if you want to do business in Africa.
Smart Business Ideas in Africa
10. Agricultural Support Platforms
Africa is well-known for agriculture as most of the countries therein largely depend on agriculture as the major source of income and foreign exchange and any investment in this sector with a technological backbone has the potential to scale up and become highly profitable. Have a mobile food service that allows you move your restaurant to serve breakfast, lunch, snacks, sandwich and casual drink close to workers or a technological platform that allows you identify food availability
9. Investments in Banking and Financial Services
Africa is currently perceived as a new land of opportunity by the world. The current fight for access to Africa by the west and the Chinese buttress this fact. Stocks in African companies are now seeing better investments from expatriates living in Africa are now better off investing their money in African banks or companies’ stocks than into their own banks and economies. Creating tools and services for this community to provide investment advice and personal financial planners to intending investors and those willing to learn the African market. This opportunity could be packaged in the form of a confidential investment newsletter, market research agency, investment boutique, index fund, index tracker agency.
8. E-libraries and e-books study platforms for students
The trend towards digital library is soon going to envelop the black continent. Africa will soon by-pass the area of huge physical libraries which require a lot of funding, logistics, and infrastructure and go directly to digital libraries where students and citizens could access millions of books and materials through mobile devices and tablets. Smart entrepreneurs may want to explore this opportunity to negotiate the deals, clear the path of adoption and build the necessary platforms that will support this revolution and start off a new trend of business in Africa.
7. Investments in Housing
Africa has a huge housing problem in all its urban areas especially as most people rather go to live in urban areas than in the rural areas. The government is overwhelmed by housing projects and integration with private investors in this area will meet the need of a lot of people who in return, will drop their cash.
6. Field Data Collection Services
If there is anything that lacks in Africa, it is access to valuable data. Independent projects monitoring and translating data is one of the sectors that is completely naive in Africa. To enable the international community fund their project adequately, they need access to such valuable and raw data.
Currently, this job is done by hiring huge consulting firm in Europe and the west which spend a lot of money subcontracting it out to other smaller firms to gather and organize their data.
An African company that will specialize in field services and data collection will be able to fill this gap and become a valuable resource to the international community.
5. Procurement and Logistics
Most African countries still lack a reliable and large-scale procurement outsourcing services providers in front a huge and growing demand either by local entrepreneurs, and administration or by international organizations, this presents a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs and business minded persons interested in procurement and logistics sector. This sector offers an amazing platform to serve the ever growing need to supply work equipment and bridge the gap between technologies in Africa and the more technologically advanced countries.
4. Energy Sector
Here comes one of the biggest challenges faced in Africa. The secret of making money is by providing the services that meet the need of a lot of people and in return for these services, they offer you money and if your price is competitively low, you have a lot of subscribers and you make more money. The energy sector is one sector that is promising for investors. Any capitalized company with interest in African energy sector with the right connections would be able to break even when the sector is capital intensive.
3. e-commerce Services
E-commerce in Africa is still at its infant stage. While the biggest challenge faced by this sector is online fraud, anyone who comes out with a way to sanitize or limit the risks within the online environment will be able to reap the benefits of this huge market. A ready and customer friendly service will help gain some trust for anyone trying to venture into this field.
2. Intellectual Property and Patents Protection Services
As seen in the developed countries, African businesses will gradually start to pay close attention to their brands and Intellectual Properties (IP). There would be a need for IP companies to structure the groundwork for monitoring and identifying breaches and taking actions against IP offenders.
1. e-government or Mobile-Government
The social media, internet, and mobile technology serve as a great empowerment tool in the hands of a concerned government. Building a platform that allows government-citizen interaction with a rating and shared ideas on implementation will go a long way in bringing about a transparent government and of course with proper backing and monetization strategies, a good return on your investment.
These are a just a few of the business ideas that would work in Africa when pursued from the right angle. You can also share your ideas using our comment system.
