I love hanging around markets – although I try not to buy randomly: I always go with my shopping list. When you are in a new country, this is a great way to get a flavor for what life is like for local people. In Kenya, you get a variety of flavors from dusty farmers’ […]
Do’s and Don’ts of Internationalizing in Africa
Africa is on the move. The future is there. But Africa hides many different realities. Its regions are diverse, and countries within each region are very different as well. So, if your company –whether indigenous or foreign – is considering expanding into an African country, how should it go about it? Here are some do’s and don’ts […]
Top Companies in Africa
A good number of managers of sub-Saharan companies have told me that when it comes to their efforts to internationalize, South Africa is off their radar screen. These countries see industries in South Africa as already quite developed and think it would be pointless to try to compete in that market. With this in mind a quick […]
Trading Times Across East African Borders
My young friend Giovanni came back from a visit to East Africa last week. As part of the trip, he traveled by car from Uganda to Kenya. This involves crossing the Malaba border where trucks can wait anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks. But the driver was an expert at crossing this border, so they only […]
African Investments in Africa
Great news! . This is according to a perspective paper by Ralf Krüger and Ilan Strauss published by the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investments. So it looks like African development is finally beginning to come from within the continent. Over 400 Africa-to-Africa projects (which I like to call intra-African development projects) were carried out between January 2003 and January […]