Africa in recent years has been growing in terms of business opportunities and a lot of investors have noticed. There is a gradual shift now from when there was huge migration from Africa to the Western world in search opportunities to creation of new and innovative products and services that are starting to catch the world’s attention, and attracting millions of dollars from both local and international investors. Ironically enough Africa’s unique problems that had people leaving Africa are the same problems bringing investors with their solutions being big business opportunities.

In this article we get a glimpse of 10 of the most promising business opportunities in Africa that are creating wealth and jobs on the continent.

Agribusiness

Africa’s agribusiness industry is expected to be worth $1 trillion by 2030 according to a World bank report.
With up to 60 percent of the world’s uncultivated arable land, fertile soils, abundant labor, and all-year sunshine, sub-Saharan Africa surely has the potential to become the world’s biggest exporter of food products.

Even if Africa decides to ignore export markets, the continent’s one billion people provides a huge and ready market for agribusiness.

Business process outsourcing (BPO)

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is now a huge multi-billion-dollar transnational industry that is expected to reach $52 billion in market size by 2023, growing at an average rate of 11% per year.

The number of BPO companies in Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Mauritius and Madagascar continues to skyrocket. In Morocco, the BPO market leader in Africa, the industry employs over 70,000 people. And in Madagascar, the number of BPOs have grown from just a handful in 2005 to over 200 firms now
In Kenya, BPO firms like Samasource use local tech-savvy Africans to support some of the big names in Silicon Valley, such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, in their artificial intelligence efforts.

Africa’s large pool of young, tech-savvy English and French speakers presents a major attraction and promising opportunity for global BPO firms looking to serve the growing outsourcing demand from clients in North America and Europe.

The outsourcing space will surely be one of the top business opportunities in Africa to watch in years to come.

Digital financial systems / Payment solutions

What is the hottest emerging industry in Africa right now?

It’s a tough question. But if I had to make an informed choice, it would be digital financial services, popularly known as ‘fintech’.

No other emerging industry in Africa is attracting as much international capital and backing like fintech right now

Over 60% of Africa’s adult population is unbanked. Up to 350 million of them own and use phones, but fewer own a bank account or have access to formal financial services. Making up for a huge market.

As the fever for fintech in Africa continues to grip local and international investors, the industry will very likely remain one of the most lucrative business and investment opportunities in Africa to watch out for in the years to come.

Solar power

The race to spread solar power across Africa is now a multi-billion-dollar industry that continues to attract entrepreneurs and investors from within and outside the continent.What makes solar one of the most attractive business opportunities in Africa right now is the significant potential for off-grid solar solutions

With over 600 million Africans are tired of waiting for energy from centrally-managed power grids that are slow to deploy, inefficient, and inflexible to the continent’s growing power needs.

The continent enjoys over 300 days of sunlight in many parts, it’s hard to beat the value proposition of a product that bypasses the central power grid and meets your energy needs by tapping directly from the sun, a free energy source.

As more funds and players try to serve Africa’s massive demand for off-grid solar solutions, this will surely be an exciting industry to watch.

Retail

In 2016, the Mall of Africa opened in South Africa. This massive 131,000 square metres of retail space is the largest shopping mall in Africa ever to be built in one phase.

Two Rivers mall opened in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s the largest shopping mall of its kind anywhere in East Africa.

Across the continent, both local and international supermarket brands like Shoprite, Game, Checkers, Woolworths, Edgars and Spar are expanding as they scramble for every inch of available space in shopping and retail infrastructure developments.

Interestingly, the battle for retail supremacy in Africa isn’t only happening in physical retail chains.

eCommerce giants like Konga and Jumia have grown quite impressively in the last few years. Both internet-based retail businesses now have a combined worth of over $1 billion.

Real estate

Africa’s real estate market is a multi-billion dollar opportunity, and several new millionaires will build their fortunes in this market.

In almost every corner of the continent, real estate projects are emerging. The biggest attractions are high-rise hotels and office buildings, residential homes and apartments, and shopping malls.

The key markets for real estate on every investor’s agenda are Angola, Nigeria, Egypt, Mozambique, South Africa and Kenya. All of these countries are experiencing a real estate boom like never before in history.

Africa’s large and youthful population, an expanding middle class, increasing urbanization, influx of expatriates and multinational companies are the key drivers of demand for both commercial and residential real estate.

Start up financing

Across Africa, start-up companies are attracting the interest of venture capital, private equity, social impact funds and angel investors who are looking for higher returns on invested capital.

In 2015 alone, the amount of capital invested in African startup businesses was roughly $0.5 billion. And in 2022, this figure is expected to double.

Apps and online services
These days, there’s almost an app or online service for anything you want.

There’s a digital revolution taking over Africa. These days, many services now have an app or are going online. Africa’s digital economy is growing really fast.

Even in 2022, more apps and online services continue to launch across Africa to solve problems and provide value. Many investment opportunities will be born in the process.

Film production.

Africa’s film industry is the second largest in the world (by volume) after India’s Bollywood, and produces more films than America’s Hollywood.

With better funding and strong competition for their content, African film producers will be telling more compelling stories, and will be empowered to create blockbuster films that can reach audiences around the world

In countries like Nigeria, the film industry contributes up to $3 billion to the economy.

The market effects of the entry of international players like Netflix into Africa’s film industry will make it one of the best emerging business opportunities in Africa in the coming years.

Health care

Africa’s human talent is one of its most ignored and underexplored assets.

With one of the world’s youngest populations, the continent is rich with creative and innovative talent. However, poor access to quality education is a serious threat to Africa’s human capital.

Currently, a couple of interesting businesses and initiatives are achieving remarkable successes as they tackle Africa’s education problems head-on.

Bridge Academies (in Kenya and East Africa) and Omega Schools (in Ghana and West Africa) have built an incredible education model of low-cost primary schools that allow pupils to pay as low as $1 a day as school fees.

Internet Access

Africa’s internet market is worth billions of dollars.

It’s no surprise that tech giants like Google and Facebook are scrambling to improve internet access to millions of Africans. Google’s Project Loon and Facebook’s Free Basics are just two of several bold initiatives to connect Africa.

However, some smart African entrepreneurs are already making impressive moves to conquer the internet access market.