{"id":35,"date":"2014-02-17T13:17:54","date_gmt":"2014-02-17T12:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/africa\/?p=35"},"modified":"2016-10-27T16:36:30","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T15:36:30","slug":"in-spite-of-attitude-necessary-for-doing-business-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/africa\/2014\/02\/17\/in-spite-of-attitude-necessary-for-doing-business-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"“In-spite-of” attitude: A necessary attitude for doing business in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don’t most of us have a perception that African countries are a tough environment<\/b> for business? Yet, no matter how tough, you can succeed if you have an “in-spite-of” attitude<\/b>. This is the experience of Nigerian entrepreneur Austin Okere, <\/b>whose example illustrates <\/b>this necessary attitude for doing business in Africa.<\/p>\n

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Ginni Rometty \u2013 IBM President and CEO \u2013 with Austin Okere. Source: CWG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Austin started Computer Warehouse Group<\/b>\u00a0(CWG<\/a>) in 1992 as a reseller of computer equipment. About 20 years later<\/b>, CGW was selling hardware, software, and communication systems, generating an income of $130 million <\/b>and employing 650 people<\/b>. From Nigeria, it had expanded into\u00a0Ghana, Cameroon, and Uganda<\/b>. And they’ve received numerous awards, as you can see in the picture!<\/p>\n

But in 2010 CWG faced a serious setback:<\/b> \u00a0The\u00a0Central Bank of Nigeria discontinued the deployment of ATMs outside bank branches, and CWG’s\u00a0ATM sales went from $35 million to $0<\/b>. They \u201cfell off a cliff,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0in Austin’s words. The company was about to be dissolved. However, in 2014 CWG is getting ready to be listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange<\/a>. And the\u00a0“in-spite-of” attitude <\/b>Austin has instilled in CWG shares an important part in this:<\/p>\n