Where to hire › Africa
Offshore Hiring in Africa
English-speaking talent in growing professional and tech communities, with working hours that overlap US mornings.
Strengths
- English is an official language in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, and the language of business.
- Established finance, customer-experience and sales professionals, particularly in South Africa.
- Fast-growing developer and digital-marketing communities in Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town and Johannesburg.
- Overlap with US Eastern mornings, and full overlap for afternoon or evening local shifts.
Time-zone overlap with the US
| Lagos | UTC+1, no daylight saving. 6 hours ahead of US Eastern in winter, 5 in summer. |
|---|---|
| Johannesburg and Cape Town | UTC+2, no daylight saving. 7 hours ahead of US Eastern in winter, 6 in summer. |
| Nairobi | UTC+3, no daylight saving. 8 hours ahead of US Eastern in winter, 7 in summer. |
A US Eastern morning falls in the African afternoon: 9 a.m. in New York is 3 or 4 p.m. in Johannesburg. Several hours of live overlap with the East Coast without night shifts; less with the West Coast.
Typical role fit
- Sales and account support: Native-level English for calls with US buyers.
- Finance and bookkeeping: Professionals familiar with international standards.
- Customer experience: English-language support with East Coast overlap.
- Developers and marketers: Growing communities in the major cities.
Role guides: Software developer · Marketer · Customer support · Bookkeeper · Sales development rep
What to consider
- Power and connectivity reliability vary by country and city: ask about backup power and internet.
- Payments and currency rules differ by country; confirm how the person will be paid.
- The region is large: South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria differ in labor law, currency and time zone.
Where to verify
- Current time differences: timeanddate.com.
- Labor and contractor rules: each country's labor department, or local counsel through your provider.
- Receiving foreign payments: ask your provider or payments service about the country's rules.
Hiring here
The route matters as much as the region. For a dedicated, full-time hire, the top-ranked option is a managed staffing hire through Hire Overseas, which recruits in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. See all six routes, ranked.