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Ivorian entrepreneur Ismael Coulibaly shares his insight on what the future holds for economic agents and investors in Ivory Coast:

“The Government
Since the change of power in Ivory Coast ending the political crisis, new prospects and perspectives are opening up for a country that couple of months ago was heading straight for the abyss. Now more than ever, we are assisting at a real ballet of investors knocking at the doors of the country.

Financial Prospects
To be honest as far as I remember, Commercial Banks in West Africa (French speaking countries at least) has always been very mediocre, crappie just to say the least. The very low level of access to banking services, says a lot about the banking situation in the region.

Private Sector
Projections for Ivory Coast in 2012 seems to indicate that it will be a great year. If you are savvy and spend time doing your homework, there are killer opportunities on the horizon and the cake is BIG enough. Regus, the global leader in office space rental, opened couple months ago.”

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It has now become obvious that the Farming Business in Africa is interesting many funds and Agri-Businesses in the Western World. The Economic crisis and more stable and democratic regime, are driving businesses back to Africa. Just visit website such as HowWeMadeItInAfrica, read their recent reports on the business boom in Africa and you will understand why the Black Continent is becoming the solution for the on-going economic and food crisis. From Ethiopia, to Mali, big agri-businesses are making the move and fueling the New Scramble For Africa. It’s now time to think about one of Africa biggest asset, land.

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ICPS:So far we have not seen any TV radio or newspaper ads is that your usual manner of communicating? Or do you prefer a more direct approach?

Yes, we do. Africa is a growing market for Regus and we strongly believe that it is crucial to explain further in details through this kind of interviews who Regus is, what our business is about and how we can support local and international businesses to grow and rapidly seize growth opportunities in the region and the 91 countries of our network.

With the developed economies of Western Europe and the US producing negative or minimal growth in recent years, businesses need to find growth from new sources – Africa (like in Asia or other regions).

As companies look at these new markets, we’re seeing accelerating demand for our flexible workspaces in Africa, where we’ve doubled our numbers of enquiries in a year.

In response to this, we’ve expanded our network rapidly in recent months – not just into Ivory Coast but also in Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and very soon in Madagascar and Zambia, just to name a few.

As the world of work becomes ever more integrated and mobile, and companies more agile, we expect demand for our services in Africa to continue to grow in 2011 and beyond, and we will expand our network accordingly

There’s a quiet mobile revolution already taking place among the elite in Africa and we need to clarify the benefits of more flexible working practices and agility at work to all.

ICPS:Do you expect any competition?

We may have small local competitors, probably more over the coming months and years but none with our global outreach and standards. By far and away our biggest competitor is the traditional way of work and long-lease office space.

We should even reinforce our leadership as we are entering a new stage of our commercially aggressive growth strategy.

As previously commented, Regus is set to make major investments to capitalise on the accelerating global trend toward flexible working. Research data from the last 18 months has shown remarkable strengthening in flexible work policies, not just in mature markets, but also in emerging economies[i].

Over the next three years Regus will invest to increase its global network by at least 75%, equating to over 800 additional business centres. The majority of growth will take place across the USA and emerging markets such as Brazil, China and India.  This move will also take the company into an additional 30 new countries – those in the pipeline include Slovenia, Uruguay, Nepal and as previously stated, Madagascar. Even in the current market, Regus is experiencing record levels of enquiries and in its last set of financial reports documented an all-time occupancy high of 86.7%.

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• |Interview|Olivier de Lavette of Regus Cote d’Ivoire-Part One (ivorycoastprivatesector.com)
• Regus returns to profit in first half (telegraph.co.uk)

Ismael Coulibaly breaks down how to launch and run a car import business in Ivory Coast and even West Africa.

Part 1

Part 2

Some of the car sellers in Ivory Coast even go to the extent of buying vehicle only when the value of the dollar is at its lowest. It means their money is worth more. Every idea is welcome as long as it ends up lowering the overall costs of doing business.

Nouvel Hair from AfricaincorpMN on Vimeo.

In this video the owner of Nouvel Hair gives us a brief description of his business, the services offered and why you should go there when and if you are in Abidjan.

Nouvel Hair is a boutique Hair Salon located on Rue de Jardin in 2 Plateaux,Cocody,Abidjan,Cote d’Ivoire,West Coast of United States of Africa

1)What are the virtual job fair main advantages:
2)Fast and easy registration
3)Create and update multiple CVs/résumés and cover letters
4)Live chat with representatives of participating organizations
5)Opportunity to participate and engage in live discussions on various topics about Africa and employment opportunities
6)Find career opportunities, temporary project assignments, and internships in Africa
7)Search opportunities by country or region
8)Access employers’ information and their vacancies online
9)Eliminate travel cost by participating from the comfort of your home or office
10)Eliminate time constraints – join in at your convenience
11)Visit the site and view updated opportunities daily, available on demand for 90 days
12)Sign up for job alerts specific to your needs

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A organization by the name of Akendewa comprised of the entities and individuals behind the first edition are currently working on having the second edition of Barcamp Abidjan taking place during the first quarter of 2010.

Akendewa promotes ,through world tested models of (un)conferences,gatherings and social events,as well as the World Wide Web, the usage by companies,entrepreneurs,students,profesionnal workforce and the general web user , of the web and numerous tools/solutions/Codes that are being made available on a daily basis.

The sphere of influence of Akendewa is primarly the French speaking living space of Africa.

The identification of receptive hoteliers, restaurants and night clubs in Côte d’Ivoire starts  on Monday 20 July.

For 10 days, enumerators will criss-cross the various communes of Abidjan to collect information on the capacity, quality of service, comfort pricing,and accessability of the numerous hotels, restaurants and maquis available in the District of Abidjan.

The outcome ,of what is the first step in executing a clear program put in place by the federation of the hotel industry in Ivory Coast common policy of reservation, marketing, promotion and control.

Professionals in the hospitality industry should wholeheartly  to adhere to this massive project that will provide a reliable database on which will comprise the strategy to revive the tourism sector

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