The company becomes the arbiter of public morality.

The company becomes the arbiter of public morality.

Indeed, in recent years, companies have taken up cultural and moral issues, and more and more often expressed a quasi-spiritual vision of what is good or bad on societal issues such as gender, diversity, change. climate change, immigration or women’s rights, to name just a few, promoting this morality in their internal manifestos, their advertising […]

Effective Prayer of a Wife Regarding Her Husband’s Finances.

Effective Prayer of a Wife Regarding Her Husband’s Finances.

Your husband’s relationship with his finances has significant consequences on his self-image and everything he experiences. Is he generous or stingy? Is he grateful or envious of others? Does he see money as a curse or a blessing? Is he wise or reckless with what he has? Do you both agree on financial management, or […]

The Misfortune of Ignorance.

The Misfortune of Ignorance.

There is nothing else that robs people of their blessings like ignorance does. You cannot fully benefit from a program that you are unaware of. Financial abundance is your right by covenant. There are four main levels in life. Those who have none at all. That is to say, beggars, those who have some, but […]

A Good Governance For Your Business.

A Good Governance For Your Business.

In Africa as in other frontier markets, it’s not very useful to prepare for (or react to) corruption in isolation. Corruption typically coincides with other governance issues, such as overwhelming bureaucracy, a shortage of labor or skills, or even both. In this regard, businesses can learn from sociology. It’s better to think about how a […]

WHY ARE THE CHINESE WINNING?

WHY ARE THE CHINESE WINNING?

I’m much more of an expert in the business field, and when it comes to commerce, I can say that the Chinese are winning because they deserve it. The Chinese are winning in Africa because they handle uncertainty well, get their hands dirty, demonstrate remarkable tenacity, and adapt their economic model locally. These are common […]

Collaboration Rather Than Reciprocity.

Collaboration Rather Than Reciprocity.

A successful relationship with a government goes beyond tit-for-tat. This reciprocity is not collaboration and quickly devolves into a mere balancing of accounts. A productive relationship with frontier market governments is built by pursuing common goals, holding each other accountable. Jeff Immelt of General Electric discovered that this collaborative approach addressed many of the drawbacks […]

MORE AND MORE GOOD GOVERNANCE.

MORE AND MORE GOOD GOVERNANCE.

The politics of governments in Africa is a landscape undergoing significant changes. Its actors are changing, of course, but so are its direction and dominant vision. This landscape is traversed by a path of good governance, commitment, and competence, which is expanding. As I have mentioned before, expectations play a significant role in the quality […]

LONG-TERM COMMITMENT.

LONG-TERM COMMITMENT.

African governments have the same need as others to respond to short-term political deadlines. What distinguishes governments in frontier markets is that they place much more value on long-term commitment from companies. A non-African example can help better understand this point. One of my friends worked in the early 1990s at one of the world’s […]

ADAPTING PROJECTS TO LOCAL CULTURE.

ADAPTING PROJECTS TO LOCAL CULTURE.

“I’ve seen it so often,” says Neville Isdell of Coca-Cola: a company identifies an opportunity in Africa, sends all its expatriates, recreating what they have at home, and manages everything from its European headquarters. It’s expensive, because of salaries, travel, etc. But most of all, it’s expensive because it doesn’t work.” Neville knows what works. […]

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