Welcome back after the break! When I came back from Africa, one of my colleagues at IESE told me: “Africa, you’re re-energized!” Indeed, I am. One of the energy shots came from meeting the CEO of a leading bank in Kenya and East Africa. His approach illustrates that thinking long-term pays off in Africa. To the […]
The challenges of internationalizing in East Africa
If you are an Africa connoisseur (or if you have followed this blog), you will know that Africa is not a single entity. And neither are African regions: not all countries in one region are the same. This is more obvious in Western Africa where the anglophone/francophone distinction is immediate. It may be less obvious […]
Pan-African Banks: Turning Around a Bad Reputation
Unfortunately, when we think about Nigerian banks, what immediately comes to mind are those e-mails we’ve all received requesting a transfer to an obscure account. However, not all Nigerian banks are alike. Following a privatization and liberalization period, a process of industry consolidation started in 2005. A capital requirement was imposed of naira (N) 25 […]