Doing business in Africa: 10 things no one ever told you

Recently, Africa.com’s CEO and founder Teresa Clarke was invited to deliver a speech on doing business in Africa to a packed room in the White House, full of CEOs and investors. She delivered the following ten tips, the ten things no one ever tells you. The audience left the room confident and ready to engage with the continent; you will be too.

1). The African business culture, similar to the Asian business culture, is driven more by relationships and less by transactions.

2). African consumers have more money than you think, and they’re willing to spend less money on food to purchase airtime. As one of our bloggers wrote recently about Kenyans, “basic needs, in the eyes of a growing few, include access to cheap mobile (and internet) services.”

3) When it comes to doing business in Africa, it’s neither one country nor 54 countries. Rather you have to take a regional approach. In our “Insider’s Guide to Business Travel to Accra, Ghana,” for example, we wrote, “Many business travelers to West Africa find Accra to be close enough to access Nigeria’s large market, but prefer the quality of life that Accra affords visitors.”

4) Brand loyalty is high. See the food and beverage and banking sectors.

Africans think China is good for business. Firstly and perhaps most importantly, Chinese treat Africans as peers, not children who need incentives for good behavior.

Read more: Africa.com