is a business coach for investors, even reporters, in emerging markets. We work as well as in our office as on the road, mainly with the African Continent we consider to be the century’s new emerging market. Even if we are coaching for foreign investors in this continent, we also offer our services to those countries’ businessmen wishing to invest abroad.  

The objective is, of course, to reduce foreign investment’s costs and to control risks through a deep environmental knowledge as well sociological, as administrative, legal and economical. Emerging market means an economical take off whose previous signals does not always attract immediate attention of investors. Nevertheless, to win an advance on competitors, it is quite important to be sensitive to those first growth factors.

Our business coaching starts from the very first prospect till the whole building up of the project. In those markets, potential investors rely, by tradition, on information originating from the former colonial and local foreign settlements.

But those groups are not enough “multicultural” neither sensitive to local cultures to get an inside view or to remain quite open to recent emerging opportunities. Suspicion and prejudices can veil their evaluation. Thus, with local staff, well integrated, investors will better find their way into the local market and be able to update their management. That’s the reason why we build up a network of young dynamical partners from new African generation altogether with senior international consultants. 

If true we work within the whole African continent, we nevertheless concentrate mainly on West Africa, on ECOWAS countries, as one of the best integrated regions in Africa. An important number of ECOWAS states have signed the OHADA Treaty agreeing on harmonization of business laws in Africa and adoption of a unique accountancy. The states within the CFA monetary zone have established integrated rules within the  UEMOA, monetary zone.

There are different guaranty frames to secure foreign investors, one of which the MIGA, which offers warranties to all other MIGA Partners.

                            CEDEAO                                                          Guinée-Bissau

Within this regional group of states, we choose, Guinea-Bissau to be the pilot target, this country being altogether ECOWAS and CPLP member.  

When getting independence from Portugal, in 1973, the former colonial power left the country without schools, having imposed the Indigenous Law, prohibiting Africans to school further as three primary school years; no real cities, only military fortresses. There has been no colonial population settlement. Quite lately independent, Guinea-Bissau, got its entrance to the modern world without any industrial development nor enough graduates. Even today the economical situation remains far behind others emerging. But with the difference that it is having graduates coming back from abroad, having studied in many countries with advantage they graduated from different schoolings and languages. 

But as a paradoxical benefit, it still leaves the country with the opportunity to choose its own development route. Indeed, it makes Guinea-Bissau still “virgin” from all collateral damages inherited in other countries where the colonial authority practiced wild exploitation without any coherent development. From there, it created overcrowded urban areas and rural exodus.It makes the country almost one of the world’s unique place where still an integrated development option remains. For example, it has been possible to cede licences for oil exploration after having established laws for biodiversity protection. It means that, in the future, the important “bio” resources, such as fisheries, cashew or tropical fruits can cohabit together with mineral and oil production.

More than sixty paradise islands, protected within the biodiversity areas, suffering no tsunami, no hurricane nor tropical storms, are offering privileged perspectives still little exploited. 

On the other hand, Guinea-Bissau can still orient its choices and decide to enter directly in renewable energies while creating its new enterprises.

But one thing will surely completely transform the future of the whole sub-Region, it is the construction of the deep waters Port in Buba. The port, connected by railway to Bamako, will offer to hinterland agricultural as well as industrial products and minerals an alternative road to the Atlantic Ocean. For the moment, those products have to travel sometimes as far as Abidjan in order to avoid the overcrowded road to Dakar. In a near future, the Port will be able to trans-ship Far East cargo freight over the Atlantic Ocean to the American Continent and to handle the growing container volume that has to cross oversee. The Port of Buba project will settle on an area with almost no inhabitants and the Bissau-Guinea State has carefully reserved the real estates port zone with extensions against possible speculations.