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Ghana ’s New Consulate Opens In Guangzhou, China

June 27, 2019

China’s investment in Africa is reaching an all-time high. Businessmen from Ghana will now have reduced stress. This is because both countries have taken their trade relationship to a new level. Apart from Ghana’s Embassy office in Beijing, today, Ghana opened its Consulate General office in China ‘s commercial city of Guangzhou.

A Look At The New Consulate Office

The Consulate General in Guangzhou is the first of its kind to be opened in Asia and the Far East, indicating the importance Ghana attaches to its relationship with China.
With the opening of the office, Ghana joins 65 other countries with the consulate in Guangzhou.
The Guangzhou Consulate-General of the Republic of Ghana, according to the Foreign Minister, has its Consular District covering the Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan Provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China.
The new consulate office in Guangzhou in the Province of Guangdong has now been opened to the public and will provide consular services similar to the services provided by the Embassy office in Beijing.

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“From today, the long journey these businessmen and women had to endure to go to Beijing for visas and other trade facilitation processes would be over since the Consulate-General is here to manage all these concerns,” the minister said.

“I believe this office is a good venue where business from Southern China and Ghanaian companies could meet. It is also to be used to promote a crucial agenda for foreign investments and international trade which face a fair amount of challenges,” Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway said.

The Guangdong Province is the economic hub of China with a population of over 106 million.

Ms. Botchway explained that Ghana is opening the office to support Ghanaian and Chinese businesses, to provide them with expeditious consular services and facilitate trade and investment promotion between the two countries.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

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A Look At Where A Majority of South African Businessmen Travel To Most

May 8, 2019

More South African businessmen are headed for London, Lagos and Mauritius than you think. Flight Centre Business Travel (FCBT) has revealed in its recent data that the fastest growing international business destinations for South African travellers in 2018 were London, Lagos and Mauritius.

Here Is A Breakdown of How The Business Travels Happened

London, UK

London witnessed a growth of 47% in the number of business travellers in 2018, according to the data.

“Year after year, the city of London remains at the top of South African lists for both business and leisure travellers. The city of London itself is also enjoying rapid growth with independent studies continually ranking it above rivals such as New York and Hong Kong. It is one of the world’s leading finance centres and offers a huge variety of business venues and conference centres.” said Andrew Grunewald, FCBT team leader. 2018 was no different despite the threat of Brexit, he said.

Lagos, Nigeria

Lagos witnessed a growth of 35% in 2018.

‘‘With more South African companies seeking to exploit opportunities north of our borders, it is not surprising to see Lagos place as the second fastest growing business destination for South African travellers. This African city is the main financial, economic and commercial centre of the Nigeria. Lagos accounts for over 60% of industrial and commercial activities in the nation and is a financially viable city,’’ said Grunewald.

Mauritius

Mauritius also saw a growth of 34% in 2018.

Related: Mauritius Where A Majority Of South Africans Are Migrating To And Their Reasons

‘‘The fact that Mauritius with its attractive tax regime and stable economy is the third fastest growing business destination comes hardly as a surprise. The country ranked as the highest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa on the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing. Business’ Index and the country’s banks have become beacons of growth and stability in sub-Saharan Africa,’’Grunewald said.

Harare, Zimbabwe

Traffic to Harare from South Africa increased by 24% according to the data.
Grunewald explains that the latest EY Africa Attractiveness report 2018 shows that Zimbabwe is the second most popular foreign investment destination in Southern Africa.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Traffic to Dubai from South Africa also increased by 17% according to the data.

The city’s regular summits, conferences and expos bring together business leaders from around the globe, Flight Centre said.

Within South Africa

Within South Africa, FCBT reported that although Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban continue to be the most popular air travel routes, the three fastest growing domestic airports in 2018 were in fact George (with a 70% growth year on year), followed by Kimberley (36%) and Lanseria (31%).

The phenomenal growth George experienced in 2018 as a business destination might come as a surprise, but this Garden Route town was in fact hailed as one of the Western Cape cities offering the highest quality of life, beating Cape Town.

“George has become increasingly popular as a business and investment destination thanks to its ideal location and low crime rate,” said Grunewald.

The Northern Cape and Kimberley remain an important business destination thanks to its mining and agriculture sectors. The area is also growing as a result of its renewable energy initiatives with a great number of solar plants developed over the past few years.

Kimberley Airport and Upington International Airport were voted in 2019 as the best airports in Africa by size and region, in the under 2 million passengers category.

Lanseria is steadily gaining ground as the third fastest growing domestic airport, Flight Centre said. This growth is not likely to slow down as the airport has announced it is aiming to double its passenger numbers to more than 4 million within the next six years.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.

Online Shopping Explodes

April 20, 2019

Latest figures from the United Nations’ Conference on Trade and Development show more people are resorting to shopping online around the world. Below is a quick summary of the facts and figures.

.Sales conducted on the internet increased by 13 per cent in 2017, reaching $29 trillion.

This number was made possible because, according to UNCTAD, more people resorted to shopping on the Internet. Hence, the number of online shoppers, moved up by 12 per cent so that a total of 1.3 billion, or one quarter of the world’s population now make sales through the Internet. However, though most Internet buyers bought goods and services from their domestic online shops, the number of people buying from abroad rose from 15 per cent in 2015 to 21 per cent in 2017. A significant percentage of this number came from buyers from the United States.

. More Businessmen are Buying from More Businessmen as against more Consumers buying from More Businessmen

The number showed that when the transactions involved two countries, business-to-consumer (B2C) sales reached an estimated $412 billion, making up for almost 11 per cent of total B2C e-commerce. Other B2C sales happened inside the countries. This represented about 4 percent increase from 2016.

The figures also showed that while transactions conducted between businessmen in these countries–that is business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce– has more than 88 percent of all online sales, B2C grew the more in the year under review. To be sure, B2C sales increased by 22 per cent to reach $3.9 trillion in 2017.

.More Online Sales Are Conducted in China Than Anywhere else in the world, while more Consumers in the UK are More Willing to Shop Online Instead of Visiting A Physical Shop.

The facts showed that more consumers in China bought directly from businessmen using the Internet by the accumulation of numbers over the years, obviously because of China’s largest population. However, UK consumers were the most likely to shop on the Internet because a staggering 82 per cent of people aged 15 and older made purchases online in 2017.

Overall, however, about 440 million consumers bought from businessmen on the Internet in China, making China the country with the largest number of Internet buyers followed by the United States, while the United Kingdom held on to third place.

.In Terms Of Who Made The Most Money From These Online Sales, US Did.

In fact, with almost $9 trillion, online sales made in the United States were three times higher than that made in Japan and more than four times higher than that made in China. Germany also overtook the Republic of Korea as the fourth largest online market.

.Findings From The Report Showed That There Is Still A Huge Gap In The Ecommerce Market.

The UNCTAD report showed that there is still a huge gap in delivering digital services such as insurance, financial services or business processes, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria, as the sector grew yearly by 7-8% over the decade, and they were worth $2.7 trillion in 2017.
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While developed countries still retain the market share, that is 77 percent, developing economies in Asia are seeing the biggest increase in exports over the past decade. Sierra Leone, a small-sized West African country emerged Third in digitally deliverable services, as a share of all service exports.

.What These Figures Mean

“The new figures show that e-commerce is indeed creating export opportunities. But the question from a development standpoint is whether businesses in developing countries are prepared to seize the opportunities,” UNCTAD Secretary-General, Mukhisa Kituyi, said.

“From an economic development perspective, this is important, because it shows the potential of digitalisation for businesses in developing countries that are producing such services,” said Shamika N. Sirimanne, who directs trade and logistics division at UNCTAD.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.