African business opportunities are predicted to reach $5.6 trillion by 2025, with potential for trade spanning a range of industries. According to the World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP has more than quadrupled in the past 20 years to $1.71 trillion.
As opportunities continue to emerge, global companies will look to expand and employ across the continent to take advantage of these growing economies.
The problem they face is how to strengthen their foothold across the continent, add value to strategic initiatives, and employ a workforce thousands of miles away from the head office and most probably operating in different time zones.
The solution lies in engaging with a specialist, usually referred to as a PEO. An African PEO, or Africa Employer of Record, is a third-party company that hires employees on behalf of a client company in Africa. They handle employees’ contracts, and at the same time, ensure all local taxes and employment laws are adhered to, ensuring the parent company always remains compliant.
They also ensure the employees are paid on time and in the local currency of the company’s operations.
The problems the PEO can now face are the following.
- Does their current payment provider offer the local African payment capability the client requires?
- Does their current payment provider offer more than one delivery channel. The requirements for employees to be paid into a mobile wallet must be an option.
- Can the PEO upload and process large batches of payroll payments from a single platform?
To be able to offer these services will not only strengthen the offering of the PEO but also reduce costs and streamline the operations of the end client and allow them to scale quickly into Africa.