Geneva and Africa

International Geneva

The data come from the City of Geneva, the Office cantonal de la statistique (cantonal statistical office), swissinfo and the World Trade Organization.¹

Indicator	Value	Reference	Part
International organisations established in Geneva	around forty	2024	F
Non-governmental organisations	more than 400	2024	F
Jobs in international organisations	28,730	2023	F
Jobs in International Geneva as a whole	around 36,000	2023	F
Expenditure of international organisations	CHF 6.4 billion	2020	F
Requests for consultations at the WTO	631	end of 2024	F

Geneva and Africa

The figures come from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Public Eye, the Natural Resource Governance Institute and the specialist press.²

Indicator	Value	Reference	Part
Share of sub-Saharan Africa’s state-owned oil bought by Swiss traders	one quarter	2011-2013	I
Resource-backed loans recorded	52 loans, more than USD 164 billion	2004-2018	I
Of which sub-Saharan Africa	30 loans, USD 66 billion	2004-2018	I
Glencore prepayments in Chad	USD 600 million, then USD 1.45 billion	2013-2014	I
Congo’s debt to Glencore and Trafigura	USD 1.7 billion	2020s	I
Swiss investment protection agreements	130 signed, around one hundred in force	2025	I
Millionaires in South Africa	41,100, or 34% of the continent	2026	I
Africa’s share of Swiss direct investment	barely 1%	2017	I
Africa’s share of mobile money accounts worldwide	50%	2020s	I

Notes

swissinfo.ch, “La Genève internationale en chiffres” [International Geneva in figures], 7 November 2024; Office cantonal de la statistique, Informations statistiques no. 12; World Trade Organization, dispute settlement portal, cited in Part F. ↩
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, eda.admin.ch; Public Eye, “À qui profite le pétrole africain ?” [Who profits from African oil?]; Natural Resource Governance Institute, 2020; Jeune Afrique and RTS, cited in Part I. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

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Geneva and Africa

International Geneva

Geneva and Africa

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?