How personal networks matter in Africa

Last month, the annual meeting of the Strategic Management Society (SMS) revolved around the theme “Strategies in a world of networks.” Have you ever heard anyone say “connections are not important in this part of the world”? That would be quite unusual, don’t you think? It’s no surprise, then, that networks matter in Africa just […]

Doing business in Africa: some practical advice

Last week I heard a talk by a consultant from Roland Berger who specialized in Sub-Saharan and Southern Africa. He offered some practical advice for doing business in Africa. This is what he said, and some of my experiences of how it holds true: 1. Take market intelligence and customer understanding seriously: product-oriented companies won’t make […]

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