Africa has always been and continues to be a place of interest when contemplating business growth and expansion and there is a myriad of details to consider and research depending on the nature of your business and target market. These could include geographic location, business support and infrastructure services such as telecommunications, corporate governance and many more. However, number one on every organisation’s expansion agenda is their staffing solution and for good reason. Your workforce is either your asset, or it is your liability.

When determining the most effective workforce solution, you may be considering whether to hire independent contractors, expatriate staff from your organisation’s head quarters or hire local workforce in Africa. There are advantages and disadvantages to each option, but international companies expanding into Africa choose to hire their staff within Africa and their chosen country of business.

Here are the top five benefits to hiring workforce in Africa, and the reasons these companies choose local workforce.

• Minimum Risk and Cost

When you do not need to expatriate your staff and rather hire locally in Africa, you minimise compliance risks regarding visas and work permits, which also minimises costs significantly, not to mention the cost of relocating workforce at the added risk of staff turnover.

• English Proficiency

This is particularly advantageous if your organisation is primarily non-English speaking. You will need native speaking employees to communicate to your target audience as well as support services to ensure maximum efficiency and productivity.

• Government Support

Many African countries, especially South Africa have a high unemployment rate with Government initiatives in place to support local employment. An example of one of these initiatives is the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) program in South Africa which aims to encourage the integration, upskill and mentorship of Black people in the workspace giving back to poor communities across the country. 

• Competitive Advantage

Local workforces have an already established personal and professional network, which gives an added advantage over competitor internationally based organisations with a similar growth and expansion strategy into Africa.

• Diversified Culture

At the very least, your organisation will be enhanced by the value created through cultural diversity if embraced and supported. Africa has a rich history of cultural diversity; South Africa is labelled as The Rainbow Nation for this reason which adds to your own organisation’s history.

Any one of these benefits justifies hiring local workforce when expanding into Africa and there are also many more benefits to mention. Still, staffing can be a complicated matter when hiring local or not and we suggest partnering with a renowned agency such as Adcorp Group to manage the process for you!

For more information on our services, visit us at Adcorp – Connecting Human Potential A leading workforce solutions company. (adcorpgroup.com)