South African businesses have moved into "risky" Africa and are reaping rewards in a market European and North American enterprises fear to tread
A survey by the Southern African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)
recently found that in less than a decade South Africa had become one of the
top 10 investors in many African countries, displacing European and North
American countries, despite problems and risks. Last year, South Africa with 3.4 billion rand in investment was the top investor in Africa, the report said.
South African parastatals like power utility Eskom, which has links with 32 African countries, railways operator Spoornet, the port authority Portnet and the Airports Company are all providing services and equipment to other African states.

The supermarket group Shoprite Holdings Ltd. is now the largest food
retailer in Africa, with 641 stores in 14 countries. Its operations outside
South Africa contributed 2.6 billion rand or 10 percent to the group’s revenue
in 2002.Meanwhile, 2.2 million subscribers in Uganda, Rwanda, Cameroon, Swaziland and Nigeria contributed 1.194 billion rand to South African cellular operator MTN’s net profit in the 2002 financial year. MTN’s rival Vodacom had 773,000 customers in Lesotho, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the end of the 2002 financial year. These customers contributed 1.2 billion rand to the group’s pre-tax profit.