News Release
Johannesburg Hailed as Hub for African Talent
August 2010
As the vuvuzelas are put away and stadiums have all cleared, South Africa’s successful hosting of the 2010 World Cup now passes into recent memory. The event was a spectacular success. Everything went according to plan; critics and naysayers were proved wrong and South Africa was favourably rebranded. Now that fans and footballers have returned home, what are the eyes of the world still seeing in South Africa?
The answer is talent! Europe and North America have always been traditional markets that attract talent away from the continent but South Africa’s relative economic prosperity and political stability have made it a new hub for African talent. South Africa is now established as a regional player in the international student marketplace by attracting as many as 20% of international students from Africa. This has been attributed to a strong marketing campaign, an abundance of highly regarded institutions like UCT, Wits and Stellenbosch, close proximity to home and low costs of living. These trends are the motivation for Global Career Company which decided to institute the Careers in Africa Recruitment Summits in Johannesburg, the commercial capital of South Africa.
Careers in Africa Recruitment Summits are normally held across Europe and North and South America with the aim of bringing the best internationally based African talent back to the continent. So why Johannesburg? The logic was simple. “We saw an opportunity to provide a South African based platform for multinational and regional companies who are struggling to find highly skilled workers for their operations in Africa,” explains Global Career Company Managing Director Rupert Adcock who founded the company in 2002. “Clients sometimes find it difficult to travel to our events in Europe even though they need to access a wider talent pool. So, we decided to provide them with access to a separate talent pool right here in South Africa. This is the first initiative of its kind in South Africa and our second event in Africa.”
Global Career Company, a London-based international recruitment consultancy, has been at the forefront of recruiting the cream of Africa’s professionals working abroad with an enviable track record spanning eight years of working with over 200 of Africa’s leading employers. This will be the second edition of the Careers in Africa Summit in Johannesburg. It takes place on 17 to 19 September 2010 and will be attended by up to 15 companies including Bateman Engineering, East African Breweries Limited, ENSA, Exim Bank, GE, Maersk, Rio Tinto and Vale.
To find out more about Careers in Africa visit www.careersinafrica.com