Dozens of businesses from the West Midlands region are on their way to exporting to Sub-Saharan Africa after experts travelled to the UK to offer specialist advice. Companies ranging from technology and education to construction took part in a Meet The Experts event, organised by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) West Midlands.
Commercial officers and specialists from six of the 44 states of Sub-Saharan Africa – Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria – were all on hand to offer one-to-one advice to companies looking to export to the countries for the first time or that are hoping to expand their reach in the African continent.
Advice on exporting to a further six African markets was also available via Skype.
More than 100 one-to-one meetings took place at the event, at Bescot Stadium – home of Walsall FC – as businesses sought advice from commercial officers from UKTI, bilateral and overseas British Chambers of Commerce and London-based High Commission staff, as well as intellectual property, legal, and funding experts.
Marina McGoldrick, from Birmingham-based leadership and development firm ORD, said after finding success in Europe, it was now preparing to expand into Africa.
“There’s a lot of potential in Africa, although it is very early days for us,” she said. “We’re looking at what infrastructure we need to have in place or if we should create partnerships out there.”
