Multinational companies and governments around the world are increasingly looking to Africa as a new business destination. Africa's economy has grown at a rate of around 5.3% per year over the last decade and six of the world's ten fastest growing economies are located here. These countries have a fast-growing middle class that contributes to rapid urbanization that is increasing faster than their cities' infrastructure can keep up. It is a common misconception that many economies in Africa are heavily dependent on energy production. In reality, the oil and gas sector accounted for only 11% of Nigeria's GDP in 2014, while the construction sector accounted for 20%.

When considering doing business in Africa, it is not a matter of choosing just one country or all 54; A regional approach makes more sense. Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, refers to sub-Saharan countries such as Angola, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. Many companies already doing business in Africa are separating their businesses in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa due to the stark economic, linguistic and cultural differences between the two regions. Here are our top 5 African countries for doing business:

Mauritius
Mauritius is known for offering an extremely favorable business environment for investment and business growth. The process of incorporating a company and starting new business activities in Mauritius is believed to be straightforward and relatively easy. Mauritius' economy is mainly based on textiles, tourism, sugar and financial services, although recently other sectors such as renewable energy and information technology are expanding rapidly. The World Bank ranked Mauritius 49th in its Doing Business 2017 ranking, largely due to its pro-business approach to dealing with building permits, enforcing contracts and protecting minority investors. Another ranking of African countries places Mauritius first based on factors such as law and security, economy, human development and human rights.

Rwanda
Despite nearly a decade of Rwanda's civil war, the country's leaders and citizens alike have worked to achieve a healthy business climate and a strong overall economy. According to the World Bank, Rwanda is the second easiest place to do business in Africa and ranks 56th in the Doing Business ranking. This is because the procedures for registering a property, obtaining credit and trading across borders have been greatly simplified. Tourism is currently the fastest growing sector in Rwanda. According to our research, businesses can be incorporated and operating in as little as three days.

Botswana
Since gaining independence, Botswana has had one of the fastest per capita economic growth rates in the world. As the government works to diversify the country's profitable industries, the mining of diamonds and other precious metals is currently the main contributor to the country's economy. Recently, Botswana has managed to reduce the time it takes for various processes including import and export and business formation procedures. In addition, technological upgrades have reduced the average court length for commercial disputes to 625 days (from 987 days in 2008). Thanks to these improvements, Botswana ranks 71st in the World Bank's Doing Business 2017 ranking.

South Africa
South Africa's key industries are automobile manufacturing, tourism, mining and information and communication technologies. South Africa has managed to simplify its import and export procedures, resulting in less time and fewer documents required. In addition, the South African authorities have simplified tax legislation, reducing the number of hours required to prepare tax reports. The World Bank ranked South Africa 74th for ease of doing business in 2017.

Kenya
Another country to keep an eye on is Kenya, which is currently making huge investments in sectors such as telecom, transport and energy. With a tech-savvy workforce and high-speed internet, Kenya stands out as one of the top countries in Africa for tech startups, while its diversified economy, strong ownership rights, excellent tourism sector and improving infrastructure make it a great location for general start a new company. If you have further questions about company formation or banking in Africa. Please contact us now.

Manufacturing is the largest economic sector in the world, which is also one of the most important, directly and indirectly accounting for a large part of all economic activity and all jobs worldwide. It processes items and is dedicated to either creating new goods or adding value by producing finished goods for sale to customers or intermediate goods to be used in the production process. After the industrial revolution that began in Britain a few centuries ago, labour-intensive textile production was successfully replaced by mechanization and the use of fuel. Today, manufacturing creates jobs, technological development and an increase in international investment.

For this reason, some jurisdictions are leveraging manufacturing output and value-added exports to increase their operations, business performance and revenue, and to address the challenges and opportunities that manufacturers face every day in conducting their businesses.

According to Deloitte's 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, China, the United States, Germany, Japan and South Korea are ranked as the top five most competitive manufacturing countries in the world. These countries generate about 60% of global manufacturing GDP.

China
Canada and its provinces compete on a global scale for investments that result in low production costs, low wages for factory workers, and the adoption of globally popular product mandates. As a result, there are some significant trends in Chinese manufacturing that can easily be highlighted. These trends include creating a globally competitive, expansive manufacturing business model, helping to create a competitive business environment for manufacturing in China and increasing sales in domestic and overseas markets. This fact can encourage start-ups to grow, invest and compete with other successful manufacturing companies.

United States
The United States is successful in attracting investment in many of the world's most active industries, such as aerospace, auto assembly, pharmaceuticals, to name a few. The USA has signed an agreement with Germany to implement a dual vocational training program for the advanced manufacturing sector. US business policies focus primarily on technology transfer, sustainability, monetary control, and science and innovation, giving manufacturing companies (automotive in Detroit and high-tech in Silicon Valley) a competitive advantage.

Germany
Germany retains a relatively high share of manufacturing exports. The country provides long-term support in government-sponsored science labs and national programs created to foster manufacturing innovation in areas such as solar and wind power and renewable energy (renewable energy sources accounted for 28% of the country's electricity generation in 2014). In addition to an energy revolution in the manufacturing industry, the country is striving to phase out nuclear energy.

Japan
Japan has a technology-intensive manufacturing sector that dominates the global manufacturing landscape in most advanced economies. The country maintains manufacturing competitiveness as there is a close link between manufacturing competitiveness and innovation. Japan has strong potential to become one of the most advanced manufacturing jurisdictions in the world. The Robot Revolution Realization Council was established in the country in 2014 as part of the Japan Revitalization Plan, introducing infrastructure and energy resources for next-generation vehicles. Japanese companies account for 50% of the global factory robot market.

South Korea
As the world leader in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays (LCD), smartphones and memory chips, automobiles, and the world's largest shipbuilder, South Korea is actively pursuing growth in free trade agreements with more than 50 countries. The country invests heavily in education and produces a large number of researchers every year. It is also known that supporting manufacturing innovation in South Korea with venture capital investments to boost high-tech startups is identified as a strategic priority.

Business translations
Business translation can be considered a subtype of legal translation and deals with contracts, agreements and other legally binding documents between two parties. Business translations relate to both law and business, as most contracts use terms from both fields. Since corporate documents often include not only initial documents (articles of incorporation, partnership agreement, etc.), but also documents related to day-to-day business operations, high-quality business translations are always a must if you want to avoid unnecessary risks and lawsuits.

Potential translation challenges may include: Names of legal entities arising from the fact that many jurisdictions recognize different legal entities that may more or less correspond to each other. A single legal entity in one country may be represented by several similar entities in another country. When incorporating in a foreign jurisdiction, it is crucial to correctly state such differences in company registration documents as they define the scope and nature of the company's structure and activities.

Incorporation documents
No business can legally exist without undergoing a company registration procedure prescribed by laws of residence jurisdiction. It is often required that incorporation documents must be submitted in official language(s), which makes legal translation services a necessity for most of the foreign businessmen. Often relocation to another jurisdiction is unavoidable for tax planning purposes, and, accordingly, this makes business translations an integral part of the activities of any company.

Auxiliary document translations
Besides contract and agreement, auxiliary documents such as patents, bills, invoices, manuals, etc., also often require translation, when expanding your business into other jurisdictions. These are essential for smooth operations, and, as any other paperwork, require cooperation between linguists, lawyers and economists. They are especially important in tax planning procedures, including accounting and report preparation.

Certified translations and apostilles
It is often required by many jurisdictions that the document’s translation should be verified by the translator and his signature authorized by the notary. Sometimes, in specific cases, an international verification form called 'apostille' is required in order for the translation to be valid. We may not only offer you translation of your documents, but also their verification by notary or apostille, meaning your company will always be ready to provide any document in any language!

After going through the fiscal crisis of the 1980s, the State gradually began to expand the corporation tax base. Some restrictions were applied to financing based on taxes between 1982 and 1986. Then in late 1980s and early 1990s a general shift appeared in industrial policy, broadening tax base in the area of corporation. Basically, the Irish corporation tax is imposed on the worldwide profits. It is composed of chargeable gains and incomes of companies residing in the country. Foreign companies, on the other hand, are subject to corporation tax on its chargeable profits.

Ireland has a specific Corporation Tax Code which includes four basic tax expenditures aiming to achieve certain policy objectives: the Knowledge Development Box (KDB), Development (R&D) Tax Credit which are designed to increase Business Expenditure on Research and Development (BERD). However, unincorporated businesses, for example, self-employed persons or sole proprietorships cannot be a subject to corporation tax. This means that profits and gains arising from companies’ trade are viewed as income chargeable to income tax.

Statistics
Ireland’s taxation system ir progressive which means that the higher are incomes, the higher is a tax rate applicable to those incomes. Data collected last year (2016) shows (Publicpolicy.ie) that the tax paid by one person on earnings that are half average is the 2nd lowest in the OECD (altogether 34 countries) which, for example, is 1/10 of Denmark’s rate.

Types of taxes in Ireland
Ireland has several types of taxes: an income tax, a value added tax (VAT), corporation tax and also Universal Social Charge (USC) on your employment income and Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI).

Corporate taxes
A tax on company income imposed by Ireland’s authorities was approved since the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. There is also an Article 74 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State stating regulations for transitional provisions related to collection and imposition of taxes that were imposed previously under the British administration in Ireland.

The common corporate tax rate qualifying dividends from EU and tax treaty territories is fixed at 12.5%. However, corporate tax of 25% is imposed on all passive incomes. Companies may be subject to other taxes though. For example, stamp duties on the transfer of property – the rate are 1-2%, local property taxes with the rate of – 0.18-0.25%. There are also industry-specific taxes established in the country. For example, it can be a shipping tonnage tax or construction operations tax.

In addition, there is a special tax which applies to certain petroleum activities, depending on the profit yield of a site. Therefore, the applicable tax rate can range 25%- 40%. Another example is a carbon tax which is applied on mineral oils such as kerosene or auto fuels, which can be purchased in Ireland. The rates of such taxes are equal to EUR 20 per ton of CO2 emitted.

VAT tax
VAT in Ireland can be referred to as a consumption based tax assessed on the value added to available goods and services which can be applied to almost everything that country offers and sells for use or consumption. VAT tax rate applicable in the country is 23%. However, there can other tax rates depending on the type of goods or services provided.

Income taxes
Every person living in Ireland must pay his or her worldwide income taxes. The basic condition is living in Ireland for 183 days or more during one tax year or for 280 days or more during the tax year and the previous tax year. If less than that, then a person is not considered tax resident and shall only pay taxes on income earned in Ireland. Tax rates for incomes are: up to 33 800 EUR – 20% and over 33 800 EUR – 40%. There is a special Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system established in the country governed by Irish Tax and Customs office.

Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI)
PRSI payments can be considered as a part of the Social Insurance Fund (SIF). This fund provides help by paying for Social Welfare benefits and pensions. It shall be paid by all employed residents except those who are earning 38 EUR or more per week by doing full-time or part-time job, workers who are self-employed and their annual income is 5,000 EUR a year or more and persons who are 16 years old or over or are under pensionable age.

Universal Social Charge (USC)
USC is referred to as a tax which must be paid on person’s total income. However, there are some types of income that are exempt. For example, an individual can pay USC at the standard rate or the reduced rate, depending on the circumstances. Reduced rates of Universal Social Charge apply to those individuals who are aged 70 or older or hold a Medical Card which is full, if a person reaches the age of 70 or holds a full medical card at any time during the year, having total income of 60,000 EUR or less otherwise the standard rates of UCS shall be applied to incomes.