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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Cooperating with suppliers

Last week I interviewed the Country Manager for Kenya of a large agricultural trading group. The group originated in Africa, and it operates worldwide. What attracted my attention the most is its cooperative approach to dealing with its suppliers. In this group, they buy commodity products from small farmers, and accumulate their volumes to sell. […]

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Africans’ communal mentality

In a comment to an earlier post, Patricia Ferrando shared her experience coaching successful Nigerian entrepreneurs. She highlighted their commitment to giving back to society and to contributing to the development of the less privileged. Patricia’s comment made me reflect upon Africans’ communal mentality. Let me share some examples I have seen while in Lagos. […]

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