A couple of weeks ago the news came out that Kenya has seen its economy grow 25% after statistical revision. Officially, Kenya is now a “middle-income country.” A few months ago, a similar type of revision brought Nigeria’s economy to the top of African countries in terms of the size of the economy, surpassing South […]
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 […]
Pygmalion in (African) management
“A lady is a woman who is treated like a lady.” You remember probably this line from My Fair Lady. In a classic Harvard Business Review article, J. Sterling Livingston coined the expression “Pygmalion in management.” The main point of the article was that “a manager’s expectations are the key to a subordinate’s performance and […]
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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. […]
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 […]
