Major industries in Africa include energy (oil and gas), agriculture, mining, telecommunications, and finance/banking. Library of Congress industry guides are linked below. While many resources on those guides focus on the United States, there is also global and other regional information included. It may also be useful to conduct research into individual companies within the industry. The Doing Company Research guide has a page on researching non-U.S. companies.
Industries in Africa vary by region, so you may also want to consult the Country and Regional Resources page of this guide.
When researching financing and banking, it should be noted that many African nations have a central bank. Central bank websites can provide useful information on an individual country's finance and economy. Links to regional banks and capital markets can be found on the Country and Regional Resources page of this guide.
The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.
This list includes free online databases as well as subscription-based ones for searching for African industry and company information. You can find links to online business directories on the Doing Business in Africa page of this guide.
The subscription resources marked with a padlock are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.
Search for companies by industry, including: agriculture (food and beverages), building and civil engineering, business services (consulting), ceramics, chemicals, education and training, electricity (electronics and nuclear), finance and insurance, handling (distribution, warehousing and packaging), hotels and restaurants, gifts, glass, heating (ventilation and air conditioning, and refrigeration), information technology, jewelry (precious stones and diamonds), mining and quarrying, machinery, measuring and testing equipment, metallurgy (metalworking and metal products), mineral products, office machinery and equipment, oil and gas, optical equipment, paper and cardboard, pharmaceuticals, printing and publishing, precision equipment, rubber and plastics, telecommunications, textiles (apparel/clothing, leather, footwear), travel goods, water and sewage (environmental services), and wood (furniture and wooden products).
The simultaneous user limit for this resource may result in temporary delays.
As of Nov. 2015 you can search for American and Foreign Companies together in one search and also see their domestic and foreign subsidiaries.
E-books are available digitally at the the Library of Congress either through our in-house repository STACKS or through subscription databases such as Taylor & Francis eBooks, Springer-Link and others. Free open source e-books may also be available.
These are freely available online resources for African industry and finance information. Some are industry specific, while some offer information by country.