International Business Relies Heavily on Translation Services

Today, international business is more profitable than ever before. Most companies already operate internationally or, at least, plan to enter the world of international business soon. Even if not actively seeking to enter the international market, every company competes in some form or another against other international businesses. Consequently, translation services are more crucial to international business than they've ever been in the past. Because technological advances enable even small companies to compete on the international market, international business relies heavily on translation services for daily operations.

International business-to-business and business-to-customer transactions are the current norm. But many companies never consider the prerequisites needed to engage in international business transactions. International business involves sales, investment, transportation, logistics, and other types of commercial transactions between companies from two or more countries. In order to engage in business with foreign companies, a company must be able to communicate with its potential business partners. The key to these kinds of successful communications is unerringly accurate translation between different languages.


Siemens, for example, a German company, has been doing business with the United States for many years, as have Bosch and Miele, which are known for their appliances. None of these companies would be able to do business in the U.S. without a clear understanding of legal contracts, business agreements, or trading pacts. In such cases, communications between the German and American companies require good translation services. This holds especially true for legally binding contracts because misinterpretations and misunderstandings on this level of international business can be costly for both parties. It’s particularly difficult to translate legal terms and contract terms, so legal translations are essential to accurately understanding binding agreements.


Business transactions invariably require translation services from beginning to the end. Referring back to the previous example, say Bosch has developed a new state-of-the art washing machine that it offers to a U.S. retailer. Bosch sends a detailed description of the new machine to the retailer, including technical specifications. Unless Bosch employs a translation service, the technical data will be indecipherable. Only after translation can the retailer decide whether or not the new model will be a worthy addition to its product line.


Taking this a step further and say that the retailer decides to buy a couple of thousand of the new Bosch machines to distribute among the stores of its retail chain. Purchase price, taxes, discounts, distribution, shipping requirements, warranty terms, and many other details have to be translated and negotiated before either company can agree to a legally binding contract. Legal translations ensure that both parties understand the terms of a contract, so it's important that legal terms are made clear by translation services well versed in the legal terminology of each country. The need for translations extends into other areas of business operations, as well. From public relations to branding and marketing campaigns, translators now are involved in every aspect of business operations. The reason so many companies now employ professional translation services is that translation is now considered an essential business expense. 

FDI in Africa

Africa, a continent abundant with natural recourses, a continent with the second highest population after Asia, a continent so diverse in terms of culture and land, is also a continent with much negativity associated in the eyes of investors. Even so, with the lack of infrastructure and political stability, Africa has always been a large receiver of global foreign direct investment (FDI) which has mainly been in the commodities sector. Why? Other than to state the obvious, I am going to investigate current examples, focusing on the objectives of the investing multinational corporations.

 Traditionally, inward FDI was received from former colonial rulers and the USA as political ties were in place and a lot of African countries were in debt, preventing full independence of choice. Over recent years Africa has started to rectify many issues such as the IMF debts and other debts with the West like the odious debt incurred by South Africa, this has allowed certain countries to develop cities and economies which can compete on a global level. For the first time in history Africa hosted the World Cup, facilitating to thousands of tourists, not only does this show how well the continent has developed over recent years but it also shows the potential Africa has for further development and investment. However, the FDI inflow into Africa is very geographically and sector concentrated. In fact, South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Algeria and Chad equate 86% of FDI inflow alone, (UNCTAD.org, 2010).

Considering Africa is made up of 57 countries, this goes to show that a lot huge amount of Africa is deemed non investable, for now maybe? The investment regimes into Africa have positive effects for the development of local economies on the surface, but when we examine some of the consequences Africa faces, it will become clear that FDI doesn’t always serve the purpose to benefit the African people. FDI from the West, into Africa has declined over recent years, this has been due to many factors but the financial crisis and the fall in commodity prices played a significant role. Henceforth, over recent years the FDI inflow to Africa from developing economies has been growing significantly. With the increase in foreign investment, the world has seen a growing demand for translation services where multiple documents are needed to be translated from business to business.