Africa has a lot of business opportunities for budding entrepreneurs. Here is a list of 10 businesses that one can invest in Africa.

4. 1. Building Material Supply Business
•The construction industry is expected to grow faster in the coming years and a massive urbanisation is expected in Africa
•This will lead to a boom in material supply
•Entrepreneurs will need to focus on marketing aggressively as it can be a highly competitive field
•Other focus areas would be to get quality building materials
•The initial investment will be high in this business, but it promises attractive returns.

5. 2. Oil & Gas Business
•This business is considered risky but promises high returns
•For entrepreneurs interested in this field there are multiple business opportunities like Oil Drilling & Exploration, Equipment leasing, Filling stations, Oil & Gas consulting, Contract basis Petroleum supply, Oil & Gas health safety and environment, monitoring, installations etc.
•There is a huge potential due to the large oil reserves found in many parts of Africa.

6. 3. Hotel Business
•This industry is understood by analysts to be attractive and profitable.
•Now with Africa witnessing economic growth, it is expected to have a positive impact on tourism and travel.
•For entrepreneurs interested in this area of business, hotels can be classified in terms of location, quality and size.
•Entrepreneurs have to decide on hotel type based on initial startup capital and operational constraints they foresee.

7. 4. Property Investment
•There seems to be an increasing demand for high-end office space, retail space and affordable residential housing.
•The growing expatriate population and the emerging middle class are also boosting property rate.
•As Africa’s economy grows, lucrative investment opportunities for property investors are going to rise.

8. 5. Project Monitoring & Data Collection
•Many international organisations in Africa depend on consultancies from Europe for various field statistics and are also spending huge amounts for the field data.
•A local company providing the data will be very cost effective and will also reduce the dependency on the international agencies
•This type of business can be initiated by the group statisticians and sociologists (or interdisciplinary groups).

9. 6. Adventure Tourism
•Africa is a popular destination for Adventure tourism as it has the potential to provide a huge variety of adventure sports.
•The investment in such business is comparatively less than the mainstream tourism.
•This is similar to the tourism with more emphasis on physical activities, interaction and engagement with nature.

10. 7. Investing in Real-estate
•Africa currently is in the phase of urbanization, where people are shifting from rural areas to cities. Therefore, opening a huge scope in housing and real estate
•The African government is overburdened with housing projects hence, increasing the opportunity for private investors

11. 8. Food Processing
•One can start a small scale industry for production of cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables, soya milk, tofu etc.
•At present African countries are spending money on importing food items. This current situation opens the door for the investors to invest in production of food items locally.

12. 9. Logistics and Transportation
•The scope of logistics and transportation is wide in itself, it includes the trucks to transport goods, the fleet of transport bus services, taxis and commuter buses.
•Investment in Logistics and Transportation seems to be a good opportunity in Africa.

13. 10. Manufacturing Industry
•South Africa and other parts of Africa have a developed manufacturing industry and has potential to compete in global market
•Manufacturing business has a wide scope, it can be done for textiles, clothing, footwear, chemicals, automotive, ICT, electronics, metals etc.

15. Mara Foundation’s Ambition
We enable, inspire and empower ambitious entrepreneurs in Africa. With the support of our Mara Mentors we will:
Inspire millions of young people in Africa to become entrepreneurs.
Teach entrepreneurs new skills.
Enable entrepreneurs to turn business ideas into a reality.
Guide business owners to grow businesses and hire (more) employees.
Empower entrepreneurs by providing a platform to showcase their business and build their network.

16. THANK YOU
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