Last year, the only two expatriates of the Ghanaian affiliate of a service company were wondering what to offer their employees as a Christmas gift. With very good sense, they thought the best would be for the employees to decide themselves. The only condition was that it would be the same for everybody, so they […]
Water purification: a basic need
During my stay in Kenya, I acquired a new habit, one which I have kept in my daily life: drinking hot, really hot, water – like from the kettle. That’s common there. I guess it has to do with the need to purify the water before drinking it. Though it’s a basic need, water purification […]
It takes local management to succeed in Africa
At a meeting with the management team of a company in Nairobi, I was asked: “Our company started operations in Nigeria two years ago. So far, we have not succeeded. Based on your discussions with Pan-African companies, why do you think this is the case?” I had some seconds to reflect. It could not be […]
Intra-Africa business travel
As a part of my learning trip, I arrived yesterday to Accra, Ghana where I will be for one week. Travelling from Nairobi to Accra would have been as easy as travelling from Barcelona (where I was last week). But that’s not the case for most of intra-Africa business travel. There are very few flight […]
Driving and management styles in Nigeria
Driving in Lagos (and Nigeria) is quite something. The daily challenge on my way back home is to access the road: this requires crossing two lanes densely populated with cars, and then turn left. Once there, you have to watch for pedestrians who run across, vans loaded with people that overflow, and other cars aggressively […]