Whether you are planning to enter Africa as an organisation, or whether you are seeking to broaden your horizons in Africa as a career seeker, partnering with an organisation such as AIMS International South Africa will give you access to the information and resources that you need to ensure your venture is a resounding success.

The continent of Africa comprises 53 nations and is home to an estimated figure of over 2000 African languages. This continent has been largely influenced by European Colonialism and as such, one can expect to find the Official languages of numerous nations to include European languages such as French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Arabic is also widely spoken.

The most significant historical influencer that has resulted in the development of Africa as a trading continent as we know it today is as a result of the “Scramble for Africa”, a process whereby European nations literally scrambled to claim their piece of Africa commencing around 1884 and resulting in the colonisation of most of Africa. The then ruling colonial powers (including France, Great Britain, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal) made a substantial impact on the grounding trade and social infrastructure of Africa by building ports, railways and mines within economically strategic places resulting in the economic prioritisation of cities and the subsequent up-surge of urbanisation.

Most African countries gained their independence during the 1960’s, which resulted in further substantial investment in their urban infrastructures and parastatal companies. Urbanisation and the existing transport infrastructure present numerous challenges to inter-African trade as African railways and roads often lead towards the ports of their countries rather than link African countries across regions. Africans have identified the need to diversify their products on offer and to increase the amount of finished product produced in order to develop internal trade opportunities and interest. Despite urbanisation, Africa still remains a largely rural society with a prominent agricultural sector.

Historically, the low tariffs on African goods entering the EU and US markets made export to industrialised countries from African countries more lucrative than establishing significant trade between African countries. As a result, trade amongst African countries sadly accounts for just 10% of their respective internal trade. For example Senegal's biggest trading partner is France, while Gambia trades extensively with the United Kingdom and although Senegal surrounds Gambia, trade between the two neighbours is minimal. For this reason, African countries are currently working towards reversing this economic legacy.

The global realisation that Africa is ‘a high potential market’ can generate attractive returns and Sub-Saharan Africa widely recognised as a most profitable investment destination. It offers, according to the World Bank’s 2003 Global Finance Development report “the highest returns on foreign investments of any region in the world.”

In order to provide you with a good start to further investigating opportunities in Africa, we have provided you with a downloadable document containing all the most pertinent information regarding each country.