More expat activity expected in Africa

in 

Africa

The number of professional expatriates working in Africa is expected to soon rise by around 75 percent, according to a report by Ernst & Young.

The bulk of these expat placements are expected to come from global multinational companies as a more international working climate is gradually beginning to form.

Ernst &Young recently carried out an in-depth report examining the mobility strategies of multinational companies throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.

One of the main findings of the report was that Africa is likely to see a big increase in the amount of expatriate workers it has coming in, Ray Harraway from Ernst & Young explained why: “Multinationals in the banking, mining, minerals, gas, oil, construction and telecommunications sectors are sending their staff to Africa to grow their international operations. Expatriates are very much part of the business strategies of many companies seeking to expand their activities beyond their home bases.”

Africa is not the only place to see increased expat numbers, the report also discovered that in general international companies had seen a collective 61 percent increase in the amount of employees sent on overseas assignments over the last year.

The much talked about BRIC nations- Brazil, Russia, India and China- were amongst the countries who had seen the larger numbers of expats. China had the most, with around 27 expat employees in all major companies.