Hong Kong is rolling out the welcome mat for African tech startups looking to set up there. Thanks to InvestHK, the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government responsible for foreign direct investment, setting up your headquarters in Hong Kong has never been easier. HKSAR has a presence in 33 markets and is actively pursuing relationships with African enterprises, including major banks, and metro development organizations.
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Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK, Stephen Phillips, notes that nearly 4,000 new businesses from around the world are now based in Hong Kong, a 52% increase from 2018. Many of these businesses are in the digital technology sector and have taken advantage of Hong Kong’s specialized incubators, business accelerators, and government funding schemes.
Through Startmeup.hk, InvestHK helps innovative and scalable start-ups set up or expand in Hong Kong. As Asia’s leading business destination and the gateway to Mainland China and Asia, Hong Kong is located within five hours of travel by two-thirds of the world’s population, making it the perfect entry point to the region. With growing interest among African businesses in the potential for expansion into the Asian market, InvestHK has opened representative offices in South Africa and Kenya.
Phillips points out that Hong Kong, with a local population of 7.5 million and 86 million from the Greater Bay Area, is a significant market for art, food, and consumer goods. It also presents significant opportunities for smart city and internet of things technology, electronics, and green technologies. “Hong Kong offers a route to growth markets in Asia, with their demographic dividends, high rate of tech adoption, and growing intra-Asian investment flows,” says Phillips. “Of course, there is also the economic beast — Mainland China — with opportunities to enter the market through JVs [joint ventures] and partnerships.”
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With Hong Kong’s thriving tech ecosystem and InvestHK’s support, African tech startups have an exciting opportunity to expand into Asia and beyond.
African startups InvestHK Hong Kong African startups InvestHK Hong Kong
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard