Andrew Stegmann
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Relocation Africa achieves EuRA Global Quality Seal accreditation

Relocation Africa completed 2 years of the Sirdar mentoring program, which essentially converted our business from a craft to an enterprise, with the aim to have an effective board in order to grow our business to become more sustainable, with less risk and better returns.

Although this was successful, we felt we needed to get an industry approved quality seal to confirm our business was strong and successful, and aligned to quality globally. After looking around at our industry, our market, the request for proposals that we were receiving, and the requirements the clients were wanting, we came up with two options; the ISO 9001 process management model, or the Global Quality Seal, which is an accreditation programme specific to our industry. The EuRA Global Quality Seal (EGQS) specifies processes and key performance indicators that reflect the very highest standards in our industry.

As a worldwide member of EuRA, we decided to gain an accreditation that is closely associated to our industry. Relocation Africa Group committed to the process and swiftly appointed two champions for the project within our organisation.  Being at the furthest point in Africa and not having any other businesses on the continent with the EGQS to benchmark against, we decided that this was going to be a good journey for Relocation Africa to put into place the globally accepted practices to run our business.

The full project took us 12 months, as we aimed to do this well, and ensure we “practiced what we preached”. There were many challenges involved with the process, as we have four separate divisions within the Relocation Africa Group, namely: Immigration, Mobility, Research, and International Payroll, and we had to ensure that each division was running in a way that could be monitored, measured and managed in a consistent manner.

We qualified with our EGQS certificate on the 30th of June 2017.

The Global Quality Seal is valid for a period of 2 years, and we will review and update as required, so as to ensure we keep on top of the requirements to remain a leading Mobility Business.

To learn more about the EGQS, visit: https://www.eura-relocation.com/?p=egqs.need.to.know

Andrew Stegmann

Kenya to roll out e-Passports in September

The immigration department in Kenya has announced plans to roll out East African e-Passports from 1 September.

Kenya joins over 50 nations worldwide in issuing a new generation travel document with security features such as biometric details, machine readable through an electronic chip.

A message from the Immigration department said: “This is to notify the General Public that the Department of Immigration will start issuing the e-Passport with effect from 1st September 2017. Holders of valid current passports will be allowed to use them for the next 2 years i.e to 31st August 2019 after which they will be rendered invalid. Please note that the department will no longer be issuing the current Ordinary, Diplomatic and East African passports.”

The move is compliant with a regional agreement to harmonise passports across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

“(The) EA e-Passport is expected to boost free movement of people across the region and it will be in line with implementation of the Common Market protocol which guaranteed the right to move between countries in East Africa,” the EAC Secretariat said.

“The EAC e–Passport will have Diplomatic, Service and Ordinary categories and is different from the current machine readable passport being issued by the Partner States. It will be valid for up to 10 years while the Diplomatic passport and service passport will be valid according to specific term of the service of the holder,” it added.

According to the Immigration department, new passport applicants can register on the eCitizen portal but will need to visit the department in order to have their biometric details recorded.

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Andrew Stegmann

Challenges of an African education

In addition to immigration complexities, security issues and cultural considerations, families relocating to Africa face the challenge of choosing a suitable education pathway. We look at the options.

Assignees moving to Africa often find the process uniquely challenging, owing to immigration complexities, security issues and cultural considerations. Those with school-age children face the added challenge of choosing a suitable education pathway. We look at the availability of international schooling in the region, and offer advice to help parents choose a school.With significant economic growth and one African country forming the ‘N’ in MINTs (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey), the countries expected to become economic powerhouses of the future, the continent of Africa is coming into sharper focus in the world of global mobility as organisations across the world, in search of growth, look to it for new opportunities.The latest reports bear this out. EY’s 2016 Africa Attractiveness survey, Navigating Africa’s Current Uncertainties, found that, despite current uncertainties, the longer-term outlook for economic growth and investment in Africa remained positive.“The next few years will be tough – partly, even largely, as a result of a fragile global economy – but many African economies remain resilient, with two-thirds of sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries still growing at rates above the global average,” said the report.Even though growth across the region is uneven and likely to remain slower in coming years, SSA will continue for the foreseeable future to be the world’s second-fastest-growing region, after emerging Asia. Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Ivory Coast are among 17 economies in the region that are forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to have grown in 2016.Larger SSA countries, such as Nigeria and Angola, have been particularly affected by lower oil prices, and growth in South Africa remains slow.Foreign direct investment (FDI) projects increased by 7 per cent year on year, from 722 in 2014 to 771 in 2015. Africa is one of only two regions in the world to have seen growth in the number of FDI projects over the past year.

School choice

Luckily, international schooling has also seen something of a boom in the region. According to the latest figures from the International School Consultancy (ISC) Group, there are currently 792 English-medium international schools throughout Africa, between them teaching more than 339,000 students. ISC Research predicts that there will be more than 1,500 such schools by 2025.

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Andrew Stegmann

Ghana: Economy Among Africa’s Best

Ghana is the eighteenth-most attractive economy for investments flowing into the African continent, according to the latest Africa Investment Index (AII) compiled by Quantum Global’s independent research arm, Quantum Global Research Lab. In 2016, Ghana attracted a net foreign direct investment of US$3.5bn.

According to research by Quantum Global Research Lab (QGRL), Ghana’s economy has experienced strong and robust growth over the past decade, making its success a case worth emulating by its regional peers. Industry was the main driver of overall growth with an annual average growth of about 13%, followed by services with 8.4% and agriculture with about 8%. The strong growth record has fostered the country’s graduation to lower-middle-income status in 2010.

Commenting on the Ghanaian economy, Prof. Mthuli Ncube, head of Quantum Global Research Lab, stated: “Ghana’s democratic attributes are as robust as its economic growth, and by improving policies and institutions, successive governments have been able to build an attractive business climate conducive to growth. These measures include reducing the number of days it takes to register a limited liability company and days spent on resolving commercial disputes in the courts. Furthermore, the election of a new government in 2016 has revitalised the drive for higher growth and infrastructure investment, all which augurs well for investment opportunities in the country.”

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