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Relocation

Executive recruitment hots up in Sub-Saharan Africa

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:54

If you are willing to relocate from SA to other African countries, can speak Portuguese or French and have experience in banking, retail, construction, petrochemicals, or telecommunications – you’re a headhunter’s dream.

One of the top headhunting companies in SA says it has expanded its operations to the growing sectors of West, East and Sub-Saharan Africa and is actively headhunting to fill increasing demand for skills in these markets.

Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, MD of Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters, says her company has formed an Africa division in the wake of increasing demand from multinational corporate clients in the banking, retail, FMCG as well as construction, telecoms and petroleum sectors.

“The countries with the most jobs include Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Nigeria, Zambia, Tanzania and Mauritius.

“We are generally appointed to headhunt mainly at senior and executive level and in most cases the corporations want executives who have local market knowledge. It’s important for them to be able to easily slot into the business scene in these countries and obviously the ability to speak local languages would be a major plus factor.”

“SA companies looking to maximise growth have also been more courageous in expanding into Africa. Because many of these initial expansion initiatives have been very successful, these companies are looking for further growth which has created greater need for more skilled staff.”

Goodman-Bhyat points out that Africa is currently one of the big growth markets for corporations both in SA and globally. And while it is often more desirable to appoint locals, the required skills base is sometimes not available.

As a result, companies have needed to bring in staff to fill certain roles, but because many countries on the continent have historically been considered high risk areas for non-locals to live and work, attracting top skills for senior management jobs has been a challenge. This has created skills shortages especially at senior levels.

She says because some of the more emergent economies in Africa do not have the same corporate infrastructure and high level corporate governance standards, SA skilled professionals with the right qualifications and experience have become the most natural and relatively easy choice for staff.

“This is extremely positive for SA’s senior managers, as it provides an incredible opportunity for senior staff currently working in SA – especially if they originally hail from other African countries – to gain new emerging market experience.

“Over the past few years many students from our African neighbours have studied and graduated at SA universities, many of them choosing to stay and gain work experience locally.

“Now’s an incredible time for them to consider returning ‘home’ with some solid business experience at senior level and benefit from this expansion.

“If you have the skills, know the lay of the land and can speak the language, you will be in high demand,” she said.