Guide: Launching a business in South Africa
Every day, we see more innovative and impactful businesses launching and scaling across Africa – and more global businesses choosing to enter...
Every day, we see more innovative and impactful businesses launching and scaling across Africa – and more global businesses choosing to enter African markets. At Stitch, our goal is to make it easier for the teams building these solutions to launch faster, operate more effectively and scale more quickly.
From startup founders launching a business in South Africa for the first time, to scale-ups evaluating South Africa as their next market, to pan-African and global enterprises taking advantage of the market opportunity – a great understanding of the landscape is an essential first step in going to market.
The Stitch Launching a Business in South Africa Guide can be leveraged alongside additional resources, including the South Africa Investment Guide from Briter Bridges and GIZ Make-IT in Africa, where you can find additional information on fundraising, the investment landscape and an investor directory.
What’s more – Stitch is here to help. If you’re an international business looking to launch in South Africa and need help navigating the regulatory and partnerships landscape, we can support you to make the process a little easier. Get in touch at sales@stitch.money to learn more.
For founders, from founders
The African continent is in a period of transformative growth, registering a record number of investments in 2021 – which has already been surpassed in 2022, despite the global economic downturn.
Increasingly recognised as a fertile environment for both local and international entrepreneurial ventures, South Africa remains one of the top 10 most developed countries in Africa, with the second-largest economy on the continent after Nigeria.
We put together an in-depth resource with market-specific information and insights that can be leveraged by entrepreneurs, country launchers, startups, and established international enterprises looking to set up shop in South Africa.
Taking learnings from our own experiences and leveraging the knowledge of some of our clients and partners in the South African tech ecosystem, this guide aims to offer a helping hand to those looking to make an impact in one of the world’s most exciting markets.
A sneak peek inside the guide
The South African business ecosystem
Learn more about the country’s top sectors, where to launch your operations – including office space options and costs, average salaries and availability of talent – and more including incubators and startup support programmes that can help early businesses get off the ground.
The tech infrastructure and payments processing capabilities
South Africa boasts a robust technical infrastructure that businesses can rely on to help them get off the ground and operate more efficiently. Learn more about the various tools and partners you can leverage to save valuable time and resources.
Localising operations
For foreign-based teams launching in South Africa, bringing someone on board with local knowledge and networks is critical for success. Gain advice from the team at ImaliPay on key learnings they gathered when expanding to South Africa, understand how you can localise payment operations and logistics to better serve local customers, and more.
South African legal and fiscal frameworks
We’ve put together everything you need to know about registering your business in the country, including the various types of legal entities, tips on opening a business bank account, employment law, visa requirements and more.
Ready to take your venture to the next level in South Africa?
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