In a recent article, Forbes magazine presented Dubai as “a strategic place to do business in Africa, with Africa and for Africa” and “Africa’s new Window to the World.”
The emergence of a new African elite, cultivated and free from the burden of the colonial complex, the paternalism and the condescension of the West has transformed the African business relationship with the outside world.
“Dubai and the Emirates are part of it and landed on the African economic horizon in a completely surprising way and with indisputable arguments”
As part of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai today has 2 million inhabitants and is the 7th most influential city in the world, according to a ranking.
But what attracts most African executives and investors to Dubai is rather its economic dynamism caused by tourism and trade.
“Every 90 seconds, an airplane lands or takes off from its airport, the new complex under construction will make it the largest in the world. Every minute 100 containers are landed at the port of Jebel Ali. Everyday 30,000 visitors choose to stop in Dubai and, in 2016, the city welcomed 12 million tourists”.
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The city is built to surpass New York, Paris or London in terms of business, investment and infrastructure. The most important multinationals have implanted their brands and African companies do not want to be left behind. Indeed, Africa has huge potential in terms of human and natural resources that this Eastern region can not ignore.
There are so many opportunities in Africa in the mining sector, agriculture, infrastructure, telecommunications, tourism, etc., and investors, including those in the United Arab Emirates, are ready to finance them.
As a result, the presence of skilled African workers in Dubai is expected to increase, according to some observers.
This is illustrated by the below figures published by Forbes:
“Since 2002, non-oil trade between Dubai and Africa has grown by over 700%. Between 2008 and 2013, trade grew by 147% to $ 27 billion. This data makes sense when we note that a new generation of African businessmen, including traders, are using Dubai as a base to develop their business on the continent. “