INTOUCH RELOCATIONS' COVERAGE EXTENDS THROUGHOUT THE GULF REGION OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.
WE UNDERSTAND FIRST-HAND THE CHALLENGES of DOING BUSINESS IN EMERGING MARKETS.
Our regional hubs in the Middle East, South, East and West Africa allow us to be on the ground where our clients need us to be, providing insight into local nuances.
Dedicated on the ground professionals with extensive local knowledge provide dependable guidance and personal care when moving to these locations.
Hover over each country to read up on some interesting facts. Click on "Read More" to see an overview on each location.
Senegal
Interesting Facts
- Senegal’s national sport is Senegalese wrestling. Unlike conventional wrestling, this form of wrestling allows blows with the hand.
- Storytelling is integral to Senegalese culture and professional storytellers are known as Griots.
- Senegal is named after the Senegal River.
Angola
Interesting Facts
- Angola is amongst the top twenty oil producing countries in the world, and the second largest oil producer in Africa after Nigeria
- Angola’s President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has been President since 1979
- Angola has a very young population – about 65% of the country’s population is under the age of 24
- Angola is one of the fastest growing economies in the world
Zimbabwe
Interesting Facts
- Robert Mugabe has been the president of Zimbabwe since 1980 and at 91 years of age, is the oldest current world leader.
- The Victoria Falls – bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe – is Africa’s largest waterfall.
- Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.
- In 2008, Zimbabwe had the highest inflation rate in history – officially recorded at 231,000,000% in 2008.
Zambia
Interesting Facts
- Copper has been mined in Zambia for almost 2,000 years
- In 2010, the World Bank named Zambia one of the world's fastest economically reformed countries.
- Zambia’s first capital was Livingstone.
- Victoria Falls, which borders Zambia and Zimbabwe, was originally called “Musi-o-Tunyi”. Translated, this means “the smoke that thunders”.
Uganda
Interesting Facts
- The origin of the longest river in the world, the Nile River, is in Uganda.
- Winston Chirchil called Uganda “the pearl of Africa”
- The Ruwenzori mountains in Uganda are home to highly endangered mountain gorillas
- Motorcycle taxis in Uganda are called “Boda-Bodas” (derived from “Border-Border”).
- Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s President, has been in power since 1986.
Tanzania
Interesting Facts
- Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, is located in Tanzania.
- The name ‘Tanzania’ comes from joining the words ‘Tanganyika’, the country’s old name, and ‘Zanzibar’, an island off the coast of Tanzania.
- While Dodoma is the official capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam is the country’s commercial centre – and the largest city in Tanzania.
Swaziland
Interesting Facts
- Swaziland is completely landlocked with only South Africa and Mozambique at its borders.
- Swaziland is one of the smallest countries in Africa.
- King Maswati III is an absolute monarch with supreme executive, legislative, and judicial powers. The country does however elect Members of Parliament to advise the King.
- The unit of currency is the Lilangeni (plural: Emalangeni) and it is pegged to the South African Rand. The South African Rand is a legal tender in Swaziland.
South Africa
Interesting Facts
- Three capital cities – Cape Town (legislative capital), Bloemfontein (judicial capital), and Pretoria (executive capital)
- Eleven official languages
- World’s first human heart transplant was conducted in Cape Town in 1967
- First African country to host a Soccer World Cup in 2010.
Nigeria
Interesting Facts
- Nigeria’s film industry, Nollywood, is the second largest producer of movies in the world – after India’s Bollywood.
- Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa.
- Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups
- Nigeria is the 12th largest crude oil producer in the world.
Namibia
Interesting Facts
- Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world.
- The Namib Desert is about 80 million years old.
- Namibia is home to the world’s largest underground lake.
- The world’s highest sand dunes can be found at Sossusvlei in Namibia.
Mozambique
Interesting Facts
- Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, was formerly known as Lorenzo Marques. The city dates back to 1850.
- At 2,436m (7,992ft), Monte Binge is the highest point in Mozambique.
- Mozambique attained independence from Portugal in 1975. Two years later, a civil war erupted and continued until 1992.
- Mozambique’s Vumba Rock Paintings are estimated to be about 8,000 years old.
Mauritius
Interesting Facts
- With a population of 1.3 million people, Mauritius is one of Africa’s smallest countries, but has one of the highest population densities.
- Before it became extinct, the Dodo was only found in Mauritius. The Dodo remains Mauritius’ national animal.
- The highest point in Mauritius is Mount Piton – about 828m above sea level.
- Historically, Mauritius has been claimed by the Dutch, the French and the British. The country finally became independent in 1968.
Malawi
Interesting Facts
- The most common surnames in Malawi are Banda, Chirwa, Piri and Manda – an estimated 30% of the population have these surnames.
- David Livingston called Lake Malawi, the Lake of Stars because of the lanterns on the fishermen’s boats at night time.
- Malawi is known as the Heart of Africa.
- The country’s president, Joyce Banda, is Malawi’s first female president.
Madagascar
Interesting Facts
- The first settlers were of African and Asian origin, and 18 separate ethnic groups emerged, derived from an African and Malayo-Indonesian mixture
- 90% of the animal and plant life found in Madagascar cannot be found anywhere else in the world, including more than 70 species of Lemurs
- Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world.
Lesotho
Interesting Facts
- Over 80% of Lesotho is more than 1,800m (5,905.51ft) above sea level.
- Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy.
- The currency of Lesotho is the Loti (plural: Maloti). The Loti is pegged to the South African Rand and the currencies can typically be used interchangeably in Lesotho.
Kenya
Interesting Facts
- Kenya’s agriculture sector is an important contributor to its economy, especially tea, coffee and flowers, with the most spectacular roses internationally sought after.
- Hydroelectricity is the largest contributor to Kenya's electricity supply
- Kenyan environmentalist, Wangari Maathai, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 – the first African woman to do so.
- Kenya is home to the world famous annual migration of the wildebeest across the great plains of the Masai Mara
Ghana
Interesting Facts
- In 1957 Ghana became the first country in Africa to attain independence from its colonisers, the British.
- In 2010, Ghana began pumping oil for the first time.
- Ghana is one of the world’s largest producers of cocoa.
- Ghana’s Lake Volta is the largest man-made lake in the world with a surface are of 8502 square meters
- Kofi Annan, 7th UN Secretary General is Ghanaian.
Ethiopia
Interesting Facts
- Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa.
- Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that has never been colonised.
- Ethiopia follows its own calendar, which has 13 months, instead of the standard Georgian 12 month calendar, and New Year is celebrated in September.
- Addis Ababa’s Merkato Market is the biggest outdoor market in the world.
DRC
Interesting Facts
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second largest country in Africa. It borders nine countries: Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
- The people of the DRC represent over 200 ethnic groups, with nearly 250 languages and dialects spoken throughout the country. Kinshasa, the capital, is the second largest French-speaking city in the world.
- Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has a space programme which launched its last rocket in 2009.
Côte d'Ivoire
Interesting Facts
- In October 1985, the government of Côte d’Ivoire requested that country no longer be referred to as ‘Ivory Coast’, but only as Côte d’Ivoire
- Soccer is Côte d’Ivoire’s most popular sport, and its most famous player is former Chelsea player, Didier Drogba.
- Côte d’Ivoire is one of the world’s largest cocoa producers.
- Having originally been the capital, Abidjan lost this title in 1983. Despite this, many government departments remain in the city.
Cameroon
Interesting Facts
- Cameroon was the first African country to reach the quarter final stage in a Soccer World Cup, in 1990.
- The name ‘Cameroon’ originally comes from the Portuguese, Rio de Camarões. Translated, this means ‘River of Prawns’.
- Some 250 ethnic groups speaking about 270 languages and dialects make it a remarkably diverse country
Botswana
Interesting Facts
- Botswana is the world’s second largest diamond producer
- 17% of Botswana’s land has been set aside as natural reserves.
- Botswana’s President, Ian Khama, is the son of the country’s first President, Sir Seretse Khama.
- A citizen of Botswana is referred to as a ‘Motswana’, while many citizens are ‘Batswana’
UAE
Interesting Facts
- Between 15 - 25% of the worlds construction cranes are in Dubai at any given time
- There is no personal income tax in Dubai
- Dubai has the tallest building in the world (Burj Khalifa)
- Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world
- Dubai has an indoor ski slope which daily produces 6000 tons of snow
Saudi Arabia
Interesting Facts
- Saudi Arabia has a young and growing population with 47% being under 24 years old and 5% over 60 years’ old
- In order to diversify its economy Saudi Arabia is building 6 economic cities that are expected to add 100 billion dollars to its GBP
- Saudi Arabia is the birth place of Islam and home of Mecca and Medina
- It is the largest country in the world without a river
Oman
Interesting Facts
- Oman is one of the oldest human – inhabited places on earth going back about 106 000 years
- Oman was colonized by the Portuguese until local tribesman drove them out in 1650
- Mountain Dew is the top selling beverage in Oman
- Crime in Oman is extremely rare
Qatar
Interesting Facts
- Qatar will host the FIFA world cup in 2022.
- The news network AL Jazeera is based in Doha and funded by the Qatar state.
- The average Qatari citizen lives to 97 years of age.
- It is more expensive to buy McDonalds than fill up your car in Qatar.
- Qatar’s population is up to 80% foreign. At any given time, there are at least 10 000 US citizens that live there.
Bahrain
Interesting Facts
- Bahrain is an archipelago of 33 islands
- The largest age group in Bahrain is 25-54 and the majority of the population are men, there are almost twice as many men to woman
- Their world trade centre is the first sky scraper in the world to integrate wind turbines into its architecture
- Bahrain’s flag used to be the largest flag in the world setting a world record in 2004
Kuwait
Interesting Facts
- Kuwait became a protectorate after Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah signed a treaty with the British 1899 to avoid being captured by Turkey.
- Kuwait is officially known as the ‘State of Kuwait’.
- The official language of Kuwait is Arabic, but English is also widely spoken and understood.
- The main ethnic groups in Kuwait include Kuwaiti, other Arab, South Asian and Iranian.
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