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If you are sending executives to explore the markets of North West Africa, it’s as well to test their grasp of French. Or to splash a little of the precious corporate budget on lessons, writes Colin Ellson, because Franglais is a non-non.
Much to the chagrin of Queen Victoria’s politicians and gun boat diplomats, our Gallic cousins got there first. And in creating colonies, and exporting their language and culture, they cornered the market in goods and services, a tradition they still jealously guard in the face of global competition. According to UK Trade & Invest, however, the French monopoly can be challenged by UK companies with the patience and determination to tackle an admittedly tough business environment. This has been proved by British investors, who top the league table of overseas interests in Algeria and are among the top six in Morocco, while exports to the latter were up by more than 100 per cent in 2008, to Tunisia by 125 per cent, and to Libya by over 20 per cent. Further good news is that Algeria and Morocco are increasingly Anglophile and have expressed a willingness to diversify away from their traditional trading partners. More understandably, there is also immense goodwill towards UK industry in English-speaking Ghana and Nigeria, both of which prefer to do business with British companies, whose goods and services are generally held in high regard. Which leaves the remainder of North West Africa, where many agriculture-based economies are undeveloped, held back by poverty, corruption and red tape, with foreign aid essential to survival. The upside, at least for foreign investors, is that the region is blessed with vast mineral resources, and Mauritania, Mali and Niger are looking to the further exploitation of gold or oil resources to rescue their fortunes. Such nations need help with their infra-structure, says UK Trade & Investment, with energy production, construction, and the expansion of industries based on the wealth beneath the ground among the priorities. Overall, it adds, there is potential throughout the region for the development of pharma-ceuticals, education and skills, financial and legal services, healthcare, aerospace and tourism industries. Accessing this vast market is a hotch-potch of direct and indirect flights from the UK. While 50 per cent of the countries are served non-stop from London, travel to Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal is via European hub airports. Onward travel in the whole of North West Africa is catered for by a good choice of domestic and intra-regional services from the main cities, although low-cost airlines are only represented by Jet4 and Atlas Blue of Morocco; Sosoliso Airlines, Virgin Nigeria and IRS of Nigeria; and Tunisia’s Kathago Airlines. But maybe cost isn’t everything on this occasion. First, get your travellers French up to scratch. On y va!
ALGERIA
Algiers
Capital of the second-largest country on the African continent, Algiers is an important economic, commercial and financial centre, focus of an economy based largely on fossil fuels, which account for 95 per cent of export earnings. But although it has the eighth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world, like many of its neighbours, Algeria is diversifying away from reliance on energy production. In this respect, tourism is a priority, and the UAE-based EMAAR group will develop five mega-projects designed to transform Algiers into a significant retail and leisure destination. British Airways flies daily non-stop from Heathrow to Algiers and Air Algerie flies four/five times a week. Direct connections include Lufthansa from Frankfurt and Air France from Paris Charles de Gaulle.
CAMEROON
Yaounde
Cameroon enjoys that rare commodity on the African continent – political and social stability. This has enabled it to develop agriculture, roads, railways and large petroleum and timber industries, while the capital of Yaounde produces cigarettes, beer, clay, glass goods and dairy products, and is a regional distribution centre for coffee, cocoa, copra, sugar cane and rubber. The government has been following World Bank and IMF programmes to encourage the privatisation of industry, although business visitors will have to count to ten when faced with the red tape that wraps itself around deals. There are no direct flights to Yaounde from the UK. The alternatives include non-stop services from Brussels with Brussels Airlines and from Zurich with Swiss, while Air France flies from Paris CDG via Douala, Cameroon’s second city.
GHANA
Accra
One of the more economically sound countries in Africa, Ghana is well endowed with natural resources. These include gold, timber, cocoa, diamonds, bauxite and manganese, while oil exploitation is increasing. More than 70 per cent of manufacturing capacity is located in and around the capital of Accra, a modern metropolis with a pleasant Victorian heritage, which doubles as the administrative, communications and economic hub of the country. Direct daily flights to Accra are operated by British Airways from Heathrow, and by Ghana International four times a week from Gatwick. From the European mainland, Lufthansa serves the capital non-stop from Frankfurt and KLM flies from Amsterdam Schiphol.
IVORY COAST (COTE D'IVOIRE)
Abidjan
Yamoussoukro is the official capital of the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire), but if you’re doing business in the country, you’ll bypass that relatively small city and make for Abidjan, the largest metropolis, and not only the commercial and banking centre but also the de facto capital. It also has a strong manufacturing base, the industries including food processing, lumber, automobiles, textiles, chemicals and soap. With no direct flights from the UK to Abidjan, business visitors’ options are Brussels Airlines from the Belgian capital or Air France from Paris Charles de Gaulle.
LIBYA
Tripoli
Since the lifting of UN and EU sanctions against the Gadaffi regime, the Libyan capital has prospered as the country’s economic hub. Tripoli is the leading commercial, banking, finance, communications and manufacturing centre, producing processed food, textiles, construction materials, clothing and tobacco products, and with its many historic sites, has re-emerged as a prime tourism destination. This has triggered a hotel building boom. The engine of the Libyan economy is the oil and gas sector, which along with construction, healthcare, telecoms and financial services, offers good export opportunities. Both British Airways and Libyan Airlines fly daily non-stop from Heathrow to Tripoli, with Afriqiyah Airways operating a similar frequency from Gatwick. Libyan also offers three flights a week from Manchester, while Lufthansa serves the Libyan capital direct from Frankfurt, KLM out of Amsterdam Schiphol.
MALI
Bamako
Long considered one of the poorest nations in the world, Mali has seen its GDP rise since it joined the World Trade Organisation in the 1990s, and the capital of Bamako is the centre of an economy whose key industry is agri-culture, employing 80 per cent of the workforce. But gold is the leading export, with the country the third-highest producer on the African continent after South Africa and Ghana. This has gone some way to mitigate the fall in the price of cotton, the largest cash crop. The only direct flights from Europe to Bamako are with Air France from Paris CDG.
MAURITANIA
Nouakchott
Against the background of a military coup last summer, cash-strapped Mauritania sees hope in the promise of free elections, and significant potential in the exploitation of offshore oil fields. On the Atlantic coast, the capital of Nouakchott has a deepwater port, and is the fulcrum of an economy dependent on agri-culture and livestock, although rich deposits of gold and iron ore are attracting mining companies to the interior. With no direct services from the UK to Nouakchott, the options are flying with Air France or Mauritania Airways from Paris CDG.
MOROCCO
Rabat
Together with the city of Sale, facing it across the Bou Regreg River, the Moroccan capital of Rabat is a relatively important centre of the textiles, food processing and construction industries. It also houses all the foreign embassies in the country. Even so, Rabat plays second fiddle to the larger and more economically significant Casablanca Rabat is not served direct from the UK – the only option is to travel non-stop with Air France from Paris CDG, or fly via Casablanca, a short hop along the coast from the capital.
Casablanca
Forever associated with international intrigue, dramatised in the eponymous war-time movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, romantic Casablanca is the driving force behind the Moroccan economy. Not only does it contribute 44 per cent to the kingdom’s industrial output – from phosphates, fish canning, saw-milling and furniture making to electronics, beer, building materials and textiles – the city is also a tourism mecca, with huge entertainment projects under development along its coastline. Royal Air Maroc flies non-stop from Heathrow to Casablanca nine times a week. Alternative routings include Air France from Paris CDG, Lufthansa from Frankfurt, and Brussels Airlines from the Belgian capital.
NIGER
Niamey
Over 80 per cent covered by the Sahara Desert, landlocked Niger relies on the export of agri-cultural products and uranium ore from some of the world’s largest deposits to sustain a hard-pressed economy. Almost half of the Niamey-based government’s budget is derived from foreign donors. But there are good prospects for future growth in the exploitation of gold, coal, other mineral resources and oil. With no direct services from the UK to Niamey, the most viable option is flying to Paris Charles De Gaulle and onward with Air France.
NIGERIA
Abuja
The Nigerian capital is one of the main centres of business activity in the country, home to government organisations and multinational companies. It also plays a major role in an economy based on oil and petroleum products, financial services, leather goods, textiles and road vehicles, and one of the fastest-growing telecoms markets in the world; the country’s space satellite is monitored at the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency in Abuja. British Airways flies direct to Abuja daily from Heathrow. Other non-stop services are with KLM from Amsterdam Schiphol or Lufthansa departing from Frankfurt.
Lagos
The city is Nigeria’s most prosperous, with much of the nation’s wealth and economic activity concentrated here. It is the site of the country’s largest banks and financial institutions, and includes over half of its manufacturing capacity, producing machinery, cars for Peugeot and a General Motors subsidiary, leather goods, textiles, electronic equipment, chemicals, beer and processed food. With strong historical ties to the UK, Nigeria is Britain’s second-largest market in Africa, taking £1,433million-worth of goods in 2008, while our investment is in the region of £1billion, similar to the export of services. The choice of airlines flying non-stop from Heathrow to Lagos includes the daily services of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Arik Air, plus Bellview Air’s four departures a week. Air France flies direct from Paris CDG, KLM flies from Amsterdam Schiphol, Lufthansa flies there from Frankfurt, and Iberia flies from Madrid.
SENEGAL
Dakar
The Senegalese capital is a major financial centre, home to a dozen national and regional banks, and to numerous international companies, non-government organisations and international research centres. Private enterprises account for some 82 per cent of GDP, and Dakar’s main industries include food processing, mining, cement, artificial fertilisers, chemicals, textiles, petroleum refining, information technology, telecomes and tourism. In the absence of direct flights from the UK to Dakar, the alternatives are Brussels Airlines from Brussels or Air France from Paris CDG.
TUNISIA
Tunis
Housing the government, the president, parliament and ministries, in addition to one-third of the country’s companies and over 30 UK investors in everything from textiles to energy and electronics to transport, the Tunisian capital is all-powerful, a one-stop shop for business visitors in all sectors. The largest financial centre in the country, the city is situated on the Atlas Mountain range and is at the hub of the diverse Tunisian economy, whose industrial base includes mining, agriculture, manufacturing, petroleum products, carpets, wine, olive oil and tourism. British Airways serves the Tunisian capital daily non-stop from Gatwick, while Tunis Air flies four times a week from Heathrow. Lufthansa flies from Frankfurt and Air France from Paris CDG.
CARBON COST
The table below shows the distance covered by a return flight between London and the destination, along with the approximate carbon emissions and the cost of offsetting it with The CarbonNeutral Company. See www.carbonneutral.com for more information.
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