“A” IS FOR APPETITE

June 12, 2023 – I don’t know about you, but my parents raised me to eat what ever was set before me.  So, when your grandmother gave you brussels sprouts or broccoli or whatever vegetable you didn’t like, you ate it. All of it.

Many companies or C-suites don’t (yet!) have an appetite for Africa. That’s okay. Because you can grow an Appetite for Africa. Just like today I actually like eating brussels sprouts!

The right appetite starts with curiosity. A curiosity to be open to getting to know the real Africa, to not believing everything you read or the images you see in movies and news reports.

But Africa is so…different

One of the main reasons people give me for not visiting or starting a business in Africa (or other parts of the world) is their fear of something different, something unknown.

When we see something different, our natural response is, “That’s weird,” which equates with saying, “That’s wrong.” But is it necessarily wrong? Absolutely not.

In Africa, you will come across situations and opportunities where your initial reaction is going to be, “That is wrong” or “How do they expect a project to be delivered in these circumstances?” In fact, they are simply unfamiliar ways of working, but they are almost never “worse” ways of working. Working in new cultures requires curiosity, requires challenging your own ways of working. Without this, you’ll have a hard time succeeding and working in new cultures may not be the right place for you.

I’ll just share 3 things that make doing business in Africa “different” to what you might be doing in other countries to give some context to the Appetite you’ll need to do business in Africa.

1st Tackling the Basics

Operating in Africa often requires tackling some pretty big, basic problems, such as guaranteed uninterrupted power, water, and internet connectivity. When you have no internet, you don’t know what your customers need, you can’t communicate with HQ or make online payments. So you need an Appetite for Plan Bs and Cs.  That could mean having two internet suppliers or procuring a backup generator.

Africa-focused companies are often trying to solve these large, foundational problems that are going to improve not just their business but also the lives of countless people, whether that’s providing access to water and electricity for a new facility, or providing improved educational opportunities, better access to finance, or even access to healthcare. Successful and sustainable companies operating in Africa understand that having an Appetite to tackle the basics both increases their bottom line and stimulates economic development by benefitting the wider communities within which they work.

2nd Technology & Training

Another thing that’s unique in the context of Africa is technology. Did you know over half the world’s mobile money accounts are in Africa? They are soooooo much further along than the rest of the world.  Who needs a checking account when you pay for electricity, school, groceries via your mobile money account?!

On the other hand, many students graduate from university without owning or often even having access to a laptop. “But how can they graduate with a degree in accounting without knowing Excel,” you may ask.  The good old fashioned way – pen, paper and a calculator. 

So, you will need an Appetite for training so your employees can learn the various software programs.

3rd Creating Win-Win-Win Scenarios

When it comes to overcoming challenges, companies operating in Africa will roll up their sleeves and get involved in finding a solution – often jointly with those around them, be that their employees, other businesses, the local community and/or the government.

Companies don’t just think about what they need, but they also see how they can benefit those around them, creating what I like to call a win-win-win scenario. They see challenges as a spur for innovation: “Hey, how can I help solve that?” “How can my product or service help?” 

This shows how you’ll need an Appetite to find solutions, often jointly, when doing business in Africa. In Uganda, for example, two mobile phone companies share cell towers as this has allowed them to cover the entire country more quickly and save on hardware and maintenance costs. All of which means the people of Uganda get mobile phone and internet access and the companies get more customers and more revenue. Everyone benefits. A win-win-win.

Developing an Appetite starts with Curiosity

There’s a well known saying, “curiosity killed the cat.”  I disagree with this. I think curiosity is the reason the cat has nine lives. Its curiosity made it aware of its environment, the opportunities as well as the dangers and the threats, and prepared it for survival.

Having an Appetite for Africa starts with curiosity, an Appetite to learn, to widen your lens, to understand the context and get to know what Africa is really like on the ground.

If you’d like to learn more about growing your Appetite for Africa and discover why now is the time to invest in Africa and her countries, please email me and/or go over to your local Amazon site and get a copy of my book, “Africa: Open for Business”.  It was just voted Best Africa Business Book of the Year!