Investing in Africa

Foreign investment is seen as one of the best ways to kickstart the development of African economies.  Africa's vision for future growth - shortly to be discussed by the world leaders at G8 - is to win yearly investments of $64bn, more than five times last year's total.

Tales of Africa's entrepreneurs

Dekaya, Ethiopia
By Briony Hale
BBC News Online business staff

Businesses around the world aspire to improve their productivity with new technologies. And Ethiopia's honey farmers are not being left behind.  The new bee hives have increased honey output eight-fold Bee-keeping is a traditional activity in Dekaya in southern Ethiopia, using hives made out of hollow logs.
Now, farmers have introduced more innovatively designed hives from Germany while still making the hive out of local wood. The improvements have meant that each hive is producing about 26kg of honey, compared to the 3kg produced with the old-fashioned method. The boost in honey output has come at a critical time for Dekaya's farmers who are facing less rain than usual and the threat of food shortages.  About 150 farmers have benefited from the new technology, after Action for Development provided technical training and the loans for the first hives to be used.
Now the farmers are setting themselves up as a cooperative, with the aim of securing their own loans from banks to buy new hives in the future. "I think it has significantly changed the lives of these farmers and their families," said Action for Development's field officer, Teklearegay Jirane. "The children can go to school, they have access to better accommodation, and one man has been able to build a new house with the money raised from selling honey."

Seychelles’ location outside the cyclone belt, in a time zone whose working hours overlap with those of major financial centres, its excellent sea and air connections with Europe, USA, Asia and Africa make it an excellent place to conduct business.
An efficient telecommunications system together with other advantages such as the extensive facilities available at its harbour, Port Victoria, and a well-developed infrastructure with attractive investment incentives, offer the ideal business environment to investors.
In order to fully capitalize on the above, the Seychelles Investment Bureau (SIB) was established in July 2004, as the first point of contact for all matters relating to investment and business in Seychelles.
Capitalising on the work of its predecessor, SIBA, SIB’s objectives are to promote Seychelles as the ultimate environment for business, foster an investor-friendly culture and assist investors to establish and expand their respective enterprises.
Its main activities include:
1) Enhancing the awareness of Seychelles as the location for investments both at home and abroad and to promote investment opportunities in all sectors of the economy
2) Providing facilitation services to investors and acting as the focal point of contact amongst local and foreign entrepreneurs and all Government/private organisations
3) Expediting the processing of investment proposals in an efficient manner for the consideration of Government
4) Conducting research and make recommendations on investment related matters.
Visit www.sib.gov.sc for more information.