Multinational companies: Why settle in West Africa?

With the exception of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all West African countries have maritime access and port infrastructure to facilitate freight transportation. For example, the Abidjan Port Authority in Côte d'Ivoire is the first tuna port in Africa and one of the largest in the world. Other ports such as the port of Tema in Ghana or the port of Dakar in Senegal, which are among the largest in terms of area, allow, with the Port of Abidjan and Lagos, to serve a large part of African countries which do not have maritime access, thus facilitating supplies and deliveries. 

Africa is a young continent – more than half of the population is under 35 years old and this young workforce is relatively qualified to do a fair amount of work. As a result, the cost of labour is more competitive than in developed countries. In addition to this skilled and competitive workforce, there is proximity to the raw material extraction sites. In fact, West African countries are rich in raw materials such as coffee, cocoa, rubber, gold, diamonds, copper, bauxite, manganese and so on. These raw materials can be used to supply the large companies which decide to set up processing plants in West Africa. They will thus be able to significantly reduce their supply costs and increase their margins. 

Finally, in terms of product and services markets, the West African countries are grouped within an economic community (ECOWAS), so that by opening a business in one of the countries, companies have full access to more than 500 million potential consumers. 

Given all this, investing in West Africa is a risk that’s sure to provide a reward. And for companies interested in trading with the growing markets that already exist in West Africa, Export Portal is your best bet. Not only is it free to join our international marketplace, but we make it safe and easy to trade with countries all over the world. Register with Export Portal today, and join the international trade revolution.