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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

THANK YOU

Website: mentor.mara.com

App: iTunes, Blackberry, Android, and Nokia.

Customer Support: support@mentor.mara.com

Mara Foundation is supported by a number of partners, including: