Invest in Africa from the UAE

Africa has 1.4 billion people, 60% of them under 25, and its population will double by 2050. It holds 30% of the world's mineral reserves, 60% of the planet's uncultivated arable land, the best solar potential in the world and some of the largest gas reserves. Its cities are growing faster than anywhere else, and its middle class already spends several hundred billion dollars a year. The Continental Free Trade Area, in force since 2021, is progressively creating a single market of 54 countries.

The UAE understood this before many others. Its sovereign funds, port operators, energy and agricultural groups and banks have invested tens of billions of dollars on the continent in a decade: ports in Egypt, Senegal, Tanzania, Angola and Somalia; renewable energy in Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Ethiopia and Mauritania; copper mines in Zambia and DRC; agriculture in Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Morocco; real estate everywhere. This presence creates a network of experience, relationships and precedents that new investors can build on.

But Africa is not a country. Each market has its own law, currency, taxation, business culture, risks and opportunities. Morocco and Botswana are not handled like Mali and the Central African Republic. That is why we have written a detailed analysis for each of the 39 countries covered: economic profile, strengths, sectors, opportunities for UAE investors, risks and how to manage them, legal framework and ties with the UAE.

Mining and critical metals, first. Copper and cobalt from DRC and Zambia, lithium from Zimbabwe, Mali and Ghana, bauxite from Guinea, Simandou iron ore, Gabonese manganese, graphite from Tanzania and Mozambique, rare earths from Malawi and Madagascar, uranium from Namibia and Niger are the raw materials of the global energy transition. Gulf investors take equity, finance projects and secure offtake contracts.

Gold, next. Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, South Africa, Sudan, Guinea, Zimbabwe and Uganda produce most of the continent's gold, a major share of which is refined and traded in Dubai. The formalisation of supply chains, required by regulators, creates opportunities for compliant players.

Energy, with immense needs: half of Africans have no access to electricity. Solar, hydro, gas-to-power, mini-grids, green hydrogen in Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania and Namibia. Agriculture and Gulf food security: horticulture in Kenya, Senegal, Morocco and Egypt, livestock in Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia and Mali, grains in Zambia and Tanzania. Infrastructure and logistics: ports, corridors, warehouses, free zones. Real estate and hospitality in capitals short of quality supply. And finance, with banking sectors opening up, as in Ethiopia.

We never approach Africa in general terms. For each project we start from the investor's thesis, shortlist three to five countries, compare them on the criteria that matter to them, market size, resources, stability, currency, taxation, available partners, ties with the UAE, and recommend one or two entry markets. The 39 country pages on this site are the starting point of that analysis: they summarise what we know about each market and what we structure there for Gulf investors. Each page is written in English and French, is updated as the situation evolves, and ends with a form to describe your project so that we can prepare the first conversation.

Most of the operations we structure in Africa are held and financed from Dubai. A free zone holding gives a UAE investor a neutral, tax-efficient and well-regarded vehicle to own African assets, receive dividends and reinvest them; it also gives African partners a counterpart they trust. Dubai's banks, law firms, auditors and arbitration centres are used to African transactions, and the city's flight connections make site visits practical. We help clients build this platform before their first African investment, so that the structure is ready when the opportunity is.