With the focus on African business sharpening all over the world, Global Career Company experts are increasingly being called to share insights on the human capital factors in play. On the 13th of September 2013, Charlotte Battaglia, Global Career Company’s Talent Acquisition Consultant gave an interview on French radio RFi regarding the opportunities, challenges and evolutions that accompany a professional move to Africa.
Charlotte first revealed that there were two types of companies that were now actively recruiting throughout the continent, multinationals that are currently expanding to Africa and developing companies looking to grow their teams. Furthermore, Charlotte added that the profiles most in demand included ones in finance, engineering, management and young graduates who can be trained to perfectly fit the companies they join.
According to Charlotte, candidates, two
groups comprise the bulk of the professional returnees to Africa. The first includes African nationals who completed degrees abroad and decided to return to their home countries to begin building their professional career. The second is made up of young graduate Africans who have lived abroad all of their lives and decided to return and rediscover the culture, lifestyle and professional opportunities now available on the continent their parents moved away from. Beyond this, Charlotte also touched on the motivations driving individuals to relocate to Africa, listing the difficulty of finding jobs with a clear development path, the growing unemployment throughout Europe and the appeal of Africa’s developing markets as the key motivators.
To conclude the interview, Charlotte spoke about the notable evolutions within Africa that have lead to the continent’s present competitive advantage in terms of luring, not only multinational companies, but high calibre talent as well. The fact that presently, all sectors are booming and recruiting throughout Africa whereas before the continent was mainly known for the energy sector has scored major attraction points with returning talent. Moreover, the opportunities present within many different industries has created a will, within the newer generation, to return to Africa and make use of the knowledge they have accumulated abroad to further drive the development of their countries and continent. Charlotte also emphasized that this same new generation of African talent has the power to break the stigma of failure historically associated with returning to the continent, as driving the development of the booming economy becomes a positive choice leading to successful stories.
To hear Charlotte’s full interview
click here.