Africa is a dynamic and diverse continent with more than 1.3 billion people and tons of biodiversity and scenic beauty. The continent serves as the origin of the human race, and some of the largest animals and oldest civilizations can be found here. Today’s blog from Akorbi talks about the top five reasons why people travel to Africa.
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Natural Beauty
More than 70 million people travel to Africa every year. Of those, 15 percent (10.5 million) come to see the natural beauty of this place. Safaris put you up close to iconic animals in the wild, like elephants, lions, cheetahs, ostriches, zebras, gorillas, and wildebeests. You might see a Nile crocodile sunning himself on a rock or a herd of gazelles galloping past your vehicle.
Africa’s natural beauty is more than just animals. Gaze upon the snows of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the rush of water over Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the lush Volcano National Park in Rwanda, towering Tundavala Gap in Angola or even the Hoggar Mountains in the desert sands of Algeria. Africa is a place to view natural wonders you’ll find nowhere else in the world.
History
Africa is rich in history, and it’s easy to get lost in the continent’s marvelous offerings. Nothing compares to seeing the Great Pyramids of Egypt in person. Thebes is also massive as one of the largest temple complexes of Ancient Egypt. Olduvai Gorge, located east of the Serengeti in northern Tanzania, is where anthropologists have discovered some of the oldest fossilized hominid remains dating back 2 million years. The Olduvai also is a repository for ancient stone tools used by early humans.
Timbuktu, in Mali, was a thriving trading outpost 1,000 years ago. It served as a major outpost along the trans-Saharan trade route. Leptis Magna sits on the coast of Libya along the Mediterranean Sea. This ancient city houses remains of a sprawling Carthaginian metropolis. Carthage was the empire that fought with Rome for supremacy of the region 2,300 years ago.
Humanitarian Missions
Nonprofit organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Aid for Africa send millions of dollars and thousands of volunteers to Africa every year. Christian missions are also a large segment of humanitarian missions, as is the Peace Corps. The United Methodist Church trains 400,000 people a year to go on mission trips to Africa. Nearly half of all Peace Corps volunteers head to Africa to serve.
Visiting Friends and Family
30 percent of Africa’s annual tourists (21 million) visit Africa to see friends and family. Considering 2.1 million African immigrants currently live in the United States, it’s no wonder many of them go back to visit loved ones in Africa.
Business
Around half of all people who visit Africa annually (35 million) do so for business purposes. Africa is a hotbed of foreign investment as billions of dollars per year flow into the continent to support growing petroleum, tourism, service, and mining industries.
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Akorbi Is Here to Help
Akorbi is ready to help you jump into Africa as an emerging market. As the continent’s economy grows, so does your opportunity to capitalize on it. Akorbi has locations in Cape Verde, Senegal, and Kenya ready to serve you. We support more than 170 languages, including Igbo, Swahili, Yoruba, Lingala, and Zulu, among other African languages.
Contact Akorbi or call us toll-free at 1-877-4-AKORBI for more details about our translation, interpretation, localization, and workforce solutions.