Page 5 - Profmark Africa Overview 2024

“Africa Overview” Guide in Perspective

“The story of Africa’s success is like the backside of a tapestry: seemingly knotted,
twisted and chaotic. But when the tapestry is reversed, all of a sudden its rich colours
and textures come together as a coherent whole.”

Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, quoted in “This is Africa”
Africa’s economy is as harsh and diverse as the continent itself. Investors are faced with
a collection of 54 African states, all at varying stages of development and each with
different markets and regulations. There is a confusing assortment of taxes and a shortage
of accurate and up to date information about market conditions in Africa. In addition, the
problem of corruption, lack of policy and the need for greater transparency is gradually
being addressed by African governments so that many tax and banking systems are in a
state of transition. For this reason, information is continually changing.
This guide gives an overview of 40 African states and is designed to be a compass,
providing an overview to point the user in the right direction when navigating through this
huge continent. It is crucial that any investment or other decisions should only be made
after consultation with relevant experts.
For the sake of completeness and in order to standardise information, figures used in the
guide relate to: Key Economic Indicators, Tax Rates, and the Ease of Doing Business Scores
per country. Descriptions of how these figures should be interpreted for each country are
included on the last few pages of this guide.
The reader is also urged to refer to the useful weblinks provided on the individual country
pages and on the overall weblinks page.

3