OPINION: Brazil is not for amateurs. So goes the old adage popularly attributed to internationally renowned musician Tom Jobim in the 1960s.

The phrase has become a mantra for those who like to remind relative newcomers that they will need to learn to bear frustrations and delays on the way to becoming a Brazil ‘pro’.

This reputation is probably deserved in the micro-economic field. Brazil is not an easy place to start a new business, and many an investor falls victim to a capricious world of overlapping taxes and liabilities.