The changing face of mergers and acquisitions in Africa

Africa is a large and diverse continent and mergers and acquisitions are prompted by many different factors, and executed in many different ways. The nature of the merger or acquisition largely depends on the socioeconomic factors of the country concerned and are directly related to the level of development of the sector, industry type and political stability, all of which combined affect the nature of the acquisition. It can be seen that Africa is a viable option for developed market investment. These mergers and acquisitions are seemingly sector dependent with retail, telecommunications and financial services all fitting very well on the three phased approach. Africa as a market is still in her infancy in terms of potential, but already is showing great signs of rapid expansion. This is in the form of market expansion where companies are growing their scale and territorial footprint at a rapid pace, and are offering viable partnerships for developed economy businesses looking to increase margins or expand their market footprint, making this the African decade. The current paper studies the rising pace of investment and mergers and acquisitions in Africa. It also studies the reasons why global companies have taken decisions to undertake investment in Africa.