Africa is one of the fastest-growing economic regions, and offers plenty of business opportunities. But its challenging environment requires patience and adaptation in order to get going successfully.
Entrepreneurs in Africa are meeting unmet needs and improving lives through entrepreneurial efforts. Their creativity and long-term dedication are creating companies that will have an impactful legacy for generations.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing industry business opportunities in Africa offer immense potential. Entrepreneurs have the power to manage all processes, quality standards, and price for their products themselves – creating potential billionaires!
Manufacturing can bring many advantages beyond creating wealth; such as employment and contributing to local economies. Many African nations encourage businesses to produce their own goods instead of depending on imports as an answer to a challenge in meeting economic development goals.
Africa’s manufacturing industry is flourishing rapidly as more entrepreneurs recognize how much profit can be earned by producing and distributing their own goods.
Food processing, glass manufacturing and furniture production are some of the most lucrative manufacturing business ideas.
African companies should explore all available markets to them. There is great potential in other unexplored markets as well, such as cell phone cases and pouches in technology trade centres – supplying these products would provide lucrative business opportunities at computer villages or online marketplaces like eBay.
Oil and Gas
Africa boasts vast deposits of oil and gas reserves that fuel global economies by providing employment and making billions in profits each year.
However, the energy crisis has driven major oil and gas companies to make significant adjustments in response to it. One obvious result of this shift is their shift away from African resources toward carbon-friendly investments elsewhere.
As such, this has opened the continent’s oil and gas opportunities up to an emerging generation of entrepreneurs who are taking over major oil company assets on the continent and engaging in sustainable exploration projects themselves.
Africa’s abundant oil and gas resources represent not only an enormous business opportunity, but also an integral component of efforts to reduce carbon emissions. With the United States set to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, oil and gas industries must significantly lower their emissions to be successful.
Education
Education sector growth potential exists throughout Africa. Population projections suggest its population will double by 2050 and there is high demand for quality education services on the continent.
Education industry investments come in various forms, from building and operating schools, supplying educational technology solutions and offering scholarships/training programs – to increasing enrollment within a country and creating additional revenue for your business.
Vocational training is another lucrative segment in Africa’s education market, offering entrepreneurs an ideal way to enter this burgeoning sector by training plumbers or technicians for various trades.
Emergence of African entrepreneurs providing solutions to educational issues on the continent includes providing solutions such as e-learning platforms, SMS-based course platforms and teacher coaching sessions.
Electricity
Electricity provides light, power and communications essential to our health, education and economic well-being – yet more than 585 million people across sub-Saharan Africa still do not have access to electricity; its population growth outpacing its electrification rate.
As such, governments across East and West Africa plan to add power capacity at rates ranging from 1.3-eight times the existing installed capacity by 2020. Although such increases will bring benefits to consumers, they may not help utilities or investors capture the value of providing energy services.
To successfully implement supply-side investments, governments, utilities, investors, development partners, and project developers must collaborate efficiently on designing and implementing an investment process that addresses all power sector requirements. Doing this would save governments billions by adopting this approach by 2023 (Figure 3).