Africa Business

Africa's Business Revolution provides the inside story on business in Africa and its future growth prospects and helps executives understand and seize the opportunities for building profitable, sustainable enterprises.

Imagine starting with a bold mission in 2012: to achieve financial inclusion through a multi-country bank. Within a decade, this vision becomes one of the fastest-growing fintechs in the world. Now, picture starting this business in South Africa, a country the IMF ranked as the hardest place to...

The road to success is rarely linear and never easy. But with courage, hard work, perseverance, and dedication to duty, Jim Ovia, founder and chairman of Zenith Bank, proves we can achieve the unthinkable. Jim has been called the Godfather of Banking by Forbes Africa. And this should be no surprise. In a time of tension between military and civilian regimes, periods of incredible economic instability, and a decaying infrastructure, Jim founded Zenith Bank in Nigeria.

Often, new exporters will feel a bit overwhelmed about trading with South Africa. Much consideration and planning will need to go into deciding on the company type, delivery of products and services, marketing strategies, and local conditions.

Welcome to “AfriCAN” - the can-do continent, the vast, vibrant, and diverse continent offering a wealth of human and natural resources that translate into opportunities for business - your business. Complicated? Not necessarily. Africa, with all its diversity and largesse, can be difficult to understand and to grasp. Just like most new business ventures. However, successful business in Africa is as straightforward as ABC: Appetite, Bandwidth, and Capital.

Africa, the cradle of humanity, is a continent brimming with potential. From its vast natural resources and swathes of arable land to its vibrant youthful population, Africa is ready to usher in a new age of prosperity and claim its place on the global stage. But the continent will not flourish without visionary leadership, careful planning, thoughtful innovation, and openness to change.