Worldbox launches comprehensive company database for Africa

Africa Uncategorized

[PRESSWIRE] Zurich, Switzerland – 30.06.15 — The global Business Intelligence company Worldbox now offers complete identification company records for Rwanda, Tanzania, Mauritius, Uganda and Madagascar with extended business records for 25 other African countries.

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“Risk departments of international businesses are understandably apprehensive about doing business in Africa”

Founder and President of Worldbox, Adrian Ashurst

Worldbox’s industry-leading business information database now contains the complete identifications of registered companies in 56 per cent of countries within the Africa continent, and coverage is continuing to grow month-by-month.

Adding to the growing number of African countries its database now incorporates, Worldbox has also begun to link domestic companies’ records to their international parent companies, where often financial statements are available. This means an evolution in its traditional offering of company directory to a business intelligence platform that can be leveraged for intricate research and due diligence.

Adrian Ashurst, CEO of Worldbox, says the firm identified and anticipated Africa’s explosion in new company formation and business growth – and the demand for information about them – some years ago.

He commented: “Worldbox, operating within the Business Information industry, has always had an eye on the emerging markets. As such, we began developing an online database of companies in Africa as far back as 2009 for anyone who wanted access to researched company information featuring the highest-quality background and financial information on any African target they wanted to do business with.”

Since then, there has been intense interest from international markets investing in developing nations with countries including China, Brazil, Canada and the US continuing to pour growing amounts of capital into this vast continent, year-on-year. This has led to a boom in the numbers of domestic businesses setting themselves up in Africa to service these international investors – for example, in construction and infrastructure, where a cross-border business requires roads to be built to reach mining areas, or housing to be built for its workforce.

The Worldbox Africa Business Records Database aims to list and offer information on all of these domestic businesses, as well as the international businesses they work with.

“With much of Africa’s domestic markets not mature enough for international trade, and a lack of formal domestic company information and record-keeping systems; risk departments of international businesses are understandably apprehensive about doing business there,” Ashurst added.

“At the same time, there is growing market demand for specialist knowledge about firms in Africa against a rising backdrop of fraud, financial disputes and corruption, including FCPA investigations and compliance audits for international firms operating there.”

Business information and financial records within the Worldbox Africa Company Database are often sourced in person by its own agents operating on the ground, meaning risks can be significantly reduced for potential business partners in Africa: whether they’re looking to deliver to, invest, merge or buy into domestic businesses there.

Worldbox provides online access to detailed data on a range of essential business areas, including: validation and verification of company registrations and accounts, corporate and financial records and credit risk reports.

The respected information content research and advisory service Outsell shortlisted Worldbox as an ‘Emerging Disruptor’ in its annual Financial, Credit, Legal and Governance, Risk and Compliance Report 2014, noting: ‘Worldbox is a credit information and BI provider that is growing aggressively in brand equity. Its company reports were originally designated for the Lichtenstein and Swiss markets, but the company has since grown to become the largest provider of cross-border information, locally, with frequently updated company reports on the emerging markets.’