Kindly read our discussion on advantage to setting up business in South Africa as foreigner as follows: Ever since South Africa became a democratic nation back in 1994, they have gone on to open up their borders to the international business world. Slowly but eventually the private sectors played a significant hand in improving the economic conditions of the country. Once the government understood how many benefits the country stood to gain from foreign direct investments, they started to make more relaxed laws regarding foreign investments and international trades. In fact, as it stands, there are numerous benefits for a foreign investor or an international company to do business in South Africa. It is like a win-win situation where both the parties stand to benefit significantly.
With that being said, listed below is some of the advantage to setting up business in South Africa.
| New economy | Whenever a country changes its economic and political system, there is room for a lot of changes and opportunities. Similarly, when South Africa went democratic in 1994, there was a boom of economic and commercial opportunities. As a result, despite being 20 years on, the country is still new to a lot of things that have been huge successes in the rest of the world. So this is where the foreign investors can look to seize the opportunity. If they can invest in new products and services, they are sure to capture a whole new market which will be beneficial for them. |
| An economic force | There are several indexes which highlight how suitable a country is to be engaged in trading with. Indexes such as the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report, as well as the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index all highlight that South Africa is an extremely suitable place to conduct business in. They rank significantly higher in such indexes as well as in the World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Index. Potential foreign investors will be glad to know that South Africa is a very attractive trade partner and the proper investments should be done to utilize this benefit. |
| The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) | A country’s economic condition can be reflected by how high their stock exchange is ranked among the world’s best. As it stands, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange or commonly known as the JSE is ranked among the top 20 of the world’s best stock exchanges by market capitalization. This is mainly because of the mature, and efficient nature of the change. It is governed by world-class regulation, trading, clearing, settlement assurance, and risk management. One of the most prominent factors of the JSE is the amazing investor protection it offers. |
| Ease of doing business | Foreign investors looking to invest in South Africa will be excited to know that the ease of doing business in South Africa is considerably higher than other powerhouse countries such as India, China, Brazil or even Russia. Anyone looking to do businesses in this country will find all the legal requirements very straight forward and there is no complex procedure to kick-starting one’s company. Among the BRICS nations i.e. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the latter is the one setting the standard for ease of doing business. Dealing with things such as construction permits, credit approvals are quite easy and the investors are given investment protection as well. |
| Impressive Infrastructure | A foreign investor or a foreign company will always be interested in how well the infrastructure of a country is. South Africa can boast that they have a very impressive infrastructure, starting with a sophisticated banking sector, a futuristic transport network, as well as an extensively available energy sector. Add to that, South Africa also has telecommunications facilities which can be considered very high functioning. The best part about their infrastructure is that the government isn’t done with all these. It wants to improve it even further which is nothing but good news for potential foreign investors. |
| Open Business environment | One of the most fundamental rules of doing business in any country is that they have to be registered. In South Africa, the business incorporation rules are a bit different. According to the new Companies Act, the government has brought in a few changes to the steps required for incorporating. They have got rid of the reservation of a company name along with a few other steps. All these basically make it that much easier to just register the business quickly and get on with the daily operations. |
With so many advantages it is no surprise to see a lot of foreign investors wanting to invest in South Africa and set up their business in this country. As mentioned earlier, Company Registration / doing business in South Africa sees a win-win situation for both the investors and the locals alike.