Forerunner: Advocate for Business & Social Change in Africa

Today we are going to talk about a legendary individual, an African American who we seldomly hear about in the context of African business. Yet, he almost handedly changed the socio-political landscape of South Africa and he championed the cause of free enterprise and entrepreneurship almost all across SSA. Indeed, when this gentleman talked governments listened, creditor nations forgave debts, and America began thinking differently about Africa as an important business and investment destination. Rev. Leon Sullivan was a very rare individual in that he dutifully fulfilled four posts in life-to such an extent that someone could perhaps write four separate best selling “how to” books on leadership based upon his life and legacy. One on how to be a minister in the church, one on being a business man, another on being a parent and a father, and another on being an agent of social change. To me what is most amazing about this trailblazer is that he proved that a person can be an advocate of progressive business and economic policy change , while at the same time being effective at bringing about serious social reform. Before going further, below are two quotes that I'd like for you to read about Rev. Dr. Leon Sullivan. One highlights his social relevance and the other one illustrates what he meant to free enterprise in Africa and vice versa.

Quote from Former US President Bill Clinton on Leon Sullivan:

“When Leon Sullivan was eight years old, he walked into a grocery store, slapped a nickel on the counter and said, "I want a Coke." The place, being in segregated South Carolina, the shopkeeper threw him out. That moment was the beginning of his life's work. The pastor of two churches by the time he was at the ripe old age of 17, Reverend Sullivan went on to write "The Sullivan Principles," which called upon companies all around the world to act in a socially responsible manner. By compelling dozens of businesses to desegregate their plants in South Africa, his work helped to pull down apartheid.

Today, as the author of the new Global Sullivan Principle, Leon Sullivan is still changing the world. He's too big for anyone to deny him a Coke, but he has helped to win that right for millions of others who aren't so large.

Reverend Sullivan, thank you for keeping your eyes on the prize for nearly 80 years now.”

Source: The White House press

Another quote on Sullivan’s contribution to thoughts on African enterprise via the Leon Sullivan Summit from John Hope Bryant
Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Operation HOPE:

“With former U.S. President Bill Clinton, 17 Heads of State from Africa, a Presidential Delegation from U.S. President George W. Bush, led by HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, and more than 1,000 delegates from government, community and the private sector in attendance, 200 of which are African-Americans representing the diaspora traveling from the United States, and delegations from more than 40 African nations, all traveling to be here in Abuja, Nigeria, yes, the late Reverend Leon H. Sullivan, a mentor to me and a hero to us all, would indeed be proud. Good job Ms. Hope Sullivan.

There is no better way to honor Reverend Sullivan’s legacy than the passionate continuation of his life empowering work. Just like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s annual holiday in the United States of America is as much about a “day on” (service to others) than a “day off,” Reverend Sullivan’s lasting legacy is and will continue to be about “the work” here in Africa.

This issue of understanding the free-enterprise system and making it work for us, has to become a core part of any discussion we have around “African entrepreneurship” today, because in a very real sense the future of Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and other forward leaning countries I have visited recently, literally lies with the ultimate success of its African entrepreneurs and its business class.

What I mean to say is that African governments should be increasingly fed and funded by a healthy and robust and growing tax base, and not foreign aid.

Bottom line, you cannot do this without creating real private-sector jobs and real economic opportunity. In other words, Africa must create a dominant class of very successful African entrepreneurs, at all levels of African society, from the “self-employment project” businessman of sorts, selling his or her wares in the local neighborhood, to the owner of a major telecommunications enterprise providing cell service to millions of African people. Individuals focused on creating wealth (their own), and not simply distributing it (others).

Or as we here at Operation HOPE continue to say, we must be focused on “converting cash economy customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners and entrepreneurs, minimum wage workers into living wage workers with new, marketable job skills, and the economically uneducated into the economically empowered. That education is the ultimate poverty eradication tool, because when you know better, you tend to do better. And when you do this, you move individuals from the poverty rolls into the payrolls. And in so doing, you are creating the new working class and middle class taxpayers that African governments ultimately will need if progressive African countries are ever going to become truly self-sustaining.”

Source: Operation Hope

Even today, there is no one else besides Rev. Sullivan that I can immediately think of who fits this unique mold of furthering the cause of free enterprise and entrepreneurship, while simultaneously championing the cause of human rights and social justice. I guess the reality is that it is just so much easier for someone to say “I’m all about business” or “I’m all about the people” and this is very natural for us to do. Sometimes, I even catch myself having to be reminded that Africa benefits not just from free-enterprise; but also from socio-political reform. One almost couldn't exist without the other and to me Rev. Sullivan embodied that message.

So, that being said, this post could go on for a very long time if we decided to chronicle every aspect of his life. To keep the length of this post to a minimum our blog we will only be able to briefly summarize two aspects of his life-business and social change agent. Also though we won’t go into details on his church life, I think that it is worth noting that the business principles which he promoted were firmly rooted upon his faith. For those of you who’d like to learn more about this legendary forerunner to today’s “Friends of African Business” you may find an extensive list of resources and links at the end of this post.

So just who is Rev. Leon H. Sullivan? Well, something tells me that if we were to ask any of his close associates or friends that question today, the answer that you might get is that he was a minister both inside and out of the church who believed in helping others.

For those of you who may not be very familiar with pre-civil rights era America, Rev. Leon H. Sullivan grew up in a time and a place that made it very difficult to be a black American. His childhood was marked by both segregation and poverty. But out of despair comes hope and so it is from this obscurity a young eight year old Leon became who he was throughout the rest of his life-a social and economic reformer extraordinaire. His life from that point on was all about equipping black populations, both in America and in Africa, with the tools that it takes to fight social and economic injustice-education, a voice, and economic sustainability. Today there are millions of black people from America to Africa who are the direct beneficiaries of his dream.

Well while still obtaining his Master’s and Doctorate degrees he, with the support of Adam Clayton Powell, became an assistant pastor at a local church, while also becoming an active participant in America's civil rights movement. He also met his wife to be-Grace Banks during this period in his life; it should be noted that Grace was a very large part of his success. This period of his life watered the proverbial seeds that later matured into several initiatives and organizations:

*Organizations

• Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC)
• Very successful training center model, which Rev Sullivan started in 1964. This program trained and placed disadvantaged African American workers into jobs across the United States. By 1980 the program had amassed over $130m per year in funding!

• Zion Investment Associates
  
• Leon strongly believed that the best way for black people to progress, as a group, economically was through self-help. This was especially true in areas such as careers and finance. So in 1962 he started a company called Zion Investment Associates, which the purpose was to help build ownership, employment, and pride. It acted as a holdings company. He offered shares in the company to his church congregation at $10 per week for 36 weeks. As a result 650 people joined and four very notable businesses came out of it. There was an apartment complex, a shopping mall, a garment manufacturing company, and an aerospace technicians training company-which won over $2m in contracts from General Electric Company.

• International Foundation for Education and Self-Help. (IFESH)
• In 1982 Leon started the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help. This began with the idea that black people in Africa and in America should work together to help one another. This organization reminds me a little bit of the Peace Corps. As a matter of fact, while living in Ghana I met several IFESH volunteers-they mainly worked or volunteered as professors at local universities-their emphasis was on global competitiveness. These volunteers were very advanced education and career-wise and back then I had no idea why they were willing to put extremely successful careers on the line for volunteer work. For instance, I met a volunteer who, prior to leaving America, was a merger & acquisition consultant. She worked at one of the then-big ten consulting and accounting firms. There was another person who was a medical doctor, the last that I checked after arriving back in America, he was appointed to a high medical related post in the US government.
  

*Movements

• Selective Patronage
  
• Selective patronage is the movement that we now know as boycotting. Mr. Sullivan was one of the first leaders to use this method of “behind the scenes protesting” This method was later adopted by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It worked such that if a business refused to treat members of a particular group with equity, in this case people affiliated with Leon or any of his organizations, then the members of the victimized group would officially and publicly agree to stop buying all products from that particular business-until the problem is fixed.

• The Sullivan Principles
  
• Catalyst for promoting social responsibility in a corporate setting. Encouraged US corporations with South African investments to withdraw investment funds from South African companies who supported or contributed to the deliberate disenfranchisement of black South Africans. Through the Sullivan Principles Leon is credited with helping to bring the apartheid regime down.

• African and African-American Summit (Later Renamed the Leon H. Sullivan Summit)
• This organization started out with a large (1000 plus) and prominent group of African Americans meeting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, back in 1991, to discuss ways that African Americans could assist Africa in healing, helping, and building. Today the biannual summit brings together the top political, human rights, and business leaders from all over the globe to find solutions to help improve upon Africa’s economic and socio-political climate. One of the most notable by-products of the first summit was the cancellation of billions of $USD of debt was forgiven by major nations.
  

• "People's Investment For Africa" (PIFA)
  
• When it started this organization was under the IFESH umbrella. It began with a $ 1m loan commitment from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. This organization received the bulk of it’s financing through individual Americans. The goal of this organization was to address the needs of self-sustainability in Africa through supporting and funding micro-enterprises.

Another position which gave Rev. Sullivan additional leverage to simultaneously address both social and business concerns was his appointment onto the General Motors Board of Directors in 1971. He was actually one of the first black Americans to do sit on the board of a fortune 500 corporation. He used this post as a platform both to help more African Americans become owners of auto dealerships and to help in securing employment, as well.

Well in closing, I hope that you have enjoyed reading this post about this giant of a change agent, Rev. Leon Sullivan. Just to recap two key and recurring themes which he espoused and which are also shared in common by myself are 1) it is possible to address the social needs in various parts of Africa, while also propagating the message of entrepreneurship and free enterprise and 2) that doing so goes a long way towards helping various economies in Africa to become self sustaining. Additionally, let me just reiterate that because of the vast amount of steps, initiatives, movements, businesses, and organizations that Leon was involved in my aim here was not necessarily to give you an entire life story, but rather to implore you (especially if you are thinking of starting a business in Africa) to find some time to study the essence and importance of Rev. Sullivan's message as it pertains to entrepreneurship and socio economic structures within Africa.

Related Links:

*Blogs

• Grandiose Parlor
• Cobb

*Websites

• Rev. Leon Sullivan
• Pennsylvania People
• African American Registry
• The Leon H. Sullivan Foundation
• Opportunities Industrialization Centers International
• Presidential Medal of Freedom citation - Leon H. Sullivan (1992)

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: Rev. Leon Sullivan, Sullivan Principles, IFESH, Opportunities Industrialization Center, OIC, Fall of Apartheid, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Abuja summit, Black History Month, African American

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The World Bank Seeks Economic Progress?

Geoffrey Kamali writes about the most recent opinion of the World Bank, as it pertains to business in Africa:

"Is Sub-Saharan Africa now a more attractive destination for investment than yester-years?

The World Bank appears to give an optimistic overview in a new report, just released Thursday. Titled 'Snapshot Africa', the report is a result of a survey conducted by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the Bank's private sector arm specialised in promoting investment in emerging economies.

The report says about 300 investors, both local and foreign, were interviewed. It compares operating costs and conditions for investors in six industries in nine countries in the region that included Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The study, designed to help investment promotion intermediaries in developing countries attract foreign direct investment (FDI), is the fifth in a series of sector analyses under MIGA. Among sectors sampled include textiles, apparel, food and beverage processing, horticulture, tourism, and call centers."

This article was from a recent online issue of all Africa.com. Upon reading this, my initial thoughts were this dovetails nicely with some of the most recent discussion which have taken place here on The Benin Epilogue lately. So in a sense it also serves as a bit of a self-reminder for me that things are looking up!

Tags: World Bank, World Bank Africa, capital flows, capital flows africa, Snapshot Africa, FDI, foreign investment africa, SSA, Sub Saharan Africa investment, African Investment Promotion

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Analyzing Corruption in Africa: In Response to Drima

Hello, I come to write today as a result of a most beautiful exchange between a fellow Africa blogger ( Drima-The Sudanese Thinker) and myself. If you are interested in reading the exchange you can find it in the comment section [here]. My rationale for actually following up the discussion with a full post is two-fold.

1. Drima's open and frankness opened my eyes, not necessarily to the reality of corruption in Africa, but more so to the difficulties of honest people (like Drima) trying with much trepidation to avoid it.
2. Also, in overhearing countless other conversations by other Africa bloggers, the topic of corruption often times dominates the floor. Sometimes my personality makes it difficult for me to focus on anything, but the positive. As such, I made a very conscious decision when I started this blog to stay away from topics that may detract from the message of promoting Africa as a serious and legitimate investment destination. However, in not addressing this issue, I have ignored a lesson that life has taught me. That when it comes to tough issues, sometimes the best way to approach them is "head on". Drima, thank you for waking me up on the issue.

Before, continuing let me say this, no one in life is perfect. Anyone can fall prone to lapses in judgement. So please, let us not use this post as a way to harshly judge others. I say this because corruption is such a sensitive issue.

My thoughts on corruption, as it pertains to doing business in Africa, are that one should strive to do open and honest business. Rather than summarize my response to Drima, to keep this post a little more concise, please refer to the original post. Now, that you know my thoughts on corruption let us look at a few facts, figures, & observations:

1. According to the World Bank, at a UN conference, the world wide cost of corruption is $1.5 trillion USD.
2. Nigeria's President, Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, said that corruption costs African countries an estimated 25% of it's combined national incomes.
3. Corruption costs African economies up to $148billion USD per year.
4. Corruption scares away investors
5. Development efforts of a nation are thwarted by corruption.
6. Large numbers in Africa perceive their elected officials to be corrupt.

These are a few arguments that I came across, in favor of corruption:

• For every government official offering favors for money, there are at least one to two corporations willing to pay.
• Some in the business community see this as the only way to secure government contracts.
• Without bribing it takes too long to start a business in Africa.

Additional related resources:

• African Institute of Corporate Citizenship
• Business Action for Africa
• Transparency International
• Convention on Business Integrity, Nigeria
• Private Enterprise Foundation, Ghana
• Center for Corporate Governance, Kenya
  
• UN Convention on Corruption
• Afrobarometer
  

Well, everyone, I promised in the beginning of this post to keep it short. In closing let me say that I hope that anyone wishing to do business in any part of Africa can do so without engaging in corrupt practices. Also, here is an interesting article that summarizes one of my other viewpoints on the whole issue. It says despite the fact that there are problems, many African countries have shown some progress in fighting corruption. However, the perception of African corruption lags greatly behind these improvements and this is to the detriment of foreign investment. Please take a peek.

Thank you again, Drima! You are very insightful.

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: Corruption in Africa, african bribery, transparency in africa, drima, sudanese thinker, corruption cost

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An Inspiration to Many: Carol Pineau

For several months now The Benin Epilogue has been bringing you news, stories, and other related resources pertaining to entrepreneurship in Africa. Until now, little has been said on this blog about the inspirations behind this blog. Today, you will get to know more about one of them . The person that I would like to introduce to you, today, is Carol Pineau. Many of you, no doubt, already know her. She is none other than the renowned journalist who has given the world a fresh new look at Africa through her documentary entitled Africa Open for Business.

Here's a quick "run down" of how I came to know about Carol Pineau. In describing summarizing to you my fascination with Carol's work, it should be noted that her story is a big piece of the inspirational pie which led to me starting this blog. If you've read my profile on the sidebar of this blog you already know that my interest in Africa began about 10 years ago, on a one year study abroad program in Ghana, West Africa. Also, if you have visited Jen Brea's blog called Africabeat, then you may have learned from one of her posts that the original idea and concept behind this blog was an offline group that a few colleagues and myself started near the beginning of 2006. This small group met in person, once a week, to discuss promoting business in Africa. Before we stopped meeting, one day while surfing the web, I happened to surf across Ms. Pineau's website. I remember thinking the first time that I saw it, Hmmmm...not only is this person sharing Africa's unreported news of successful and thriving businesses to the world, but wow-the way that she's doing it via documentary and internet is very refreshing. Now, it just so happened that around the time of me learning about Carol Pineau two critical things were happening. 1) the group off line group that I had really grown to love over the last several months was beginning to drift apart, with each member moving into other areas and 2) I had just read Professor George Ayittey's book called Africa Unchained. One of the things that this book did was point me in the direction of another amazing messenger of Africa's business successes called Emeka Okafor (not the basket ball player), author of Timbuktu Chronicles. These two events-aided by the strong impression left upon me by the Africa Open for Business website helped provide me with the impetus for starting the blog that you are reading right now. Now, it just so happened that out of the blue, after I'd already started blogging one of my good friends who has been to The Benin Epilogue blog a few times called me to give me the time, date, and the place of a local viewing of Carol's documentary. Upon hearing this I immediately stopped all of my other plans for that evening and happily attended the showing.

What a treat it was to watch that movie. If you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend you to visit the website and order a few copies of the DVD. Instead of me trying to tell you the how and why of the CD. I will let Carol do it, via an article that she has given me permission to reprint here on the Benin Epilogue. It is a fairly long article so what you will see below is only a portion of it. If you'd like to read it in it's entirety please click the link at the bottom of this post.

"In the waiting area of a large office complex in Accra, Ghana, it's standing room only as citizens with bundles of cash line up to buy shares of a mutual fund that has yielded an average 60 percent annually for the past seven years. They're entrusting their hard-earned cash to a local company called Databank, which invests in stock markets in Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana and Kenya that consistently rank among the world's top growth markets.

Chances are you haven't read or heard anything about Databank in your daily newspaper or on the evening news, where the little coverage of Africa that's offered focuses almost exclusively on the negative -- the virulent spread of HIV/AIDS, genocide in Darfur and the chaos of Zimbabwe.

Yes, Africa is a land of wars, poverty and corruption. The situation in places like Darfur, Sudan, desperately cries out for more media attention and international action. But Africa is also a land of stock markets, high rises, Internet cafes and a growing middle class. This is the part of Africa that functions. And this Africa also needs media attention, if it's to have any chance of fully joining the global economy.

Africa's media image comes at a high cost, even, at the extreme, the cost of lives. Stories about hardship and tragedy aim to tug at our heartstrings, getting us to dig into our pockets or urge Congress to send more aid. But no country or region ever developed thanks to aid alone. Investment, and the job and wealth creation it generates, is the only road to lasting development. That's how China, India and the Asian Tigers did it.

Yet while Africa, according to the U.S. government's Overseas Private Investment Corp., offers the highest return in the world on direct foreign investment, it attracts the least. Unless investors see the Africa that's worthy of investment, they won't put their money into it. And that lack of investment translates into job stagnation, continued poverty and limited access to education and health care.

Consider a few facts: The Ghana Stock Exchange regularly tops the list of the world's highest-performing stock markets. Botswana, with its A+ credit rating, boasts one of the highest per capita government savings rates in the world, topped only by Singapore and a handful of other fiscally prudent nations. Cell phones are making phenomenal profits on the continent. Brand-name companies like Coca-Cola, GM, Caterpillar and Citibank have invested in Africa for years and are quite bullish on the future.

The failure to show this side of Africa creates a one-dimensional caricature of a complex continent. Imagine if 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombing and school shootings were all that the rest of the world knew about America.

I recently produced a documentary on entrepreneurship and private enterprise in Africa. Throughout the year-long process, I came to realize how all of us in the media -- even those with a true love of the continent -- portray it in a way that's truly to its detriment.

The first cameraman I called to film the documentary laughed and said, "Business and Africa, aren't those contradictory terms?" The second got excited imagining heart-warming images of women's co-ops and market stalls brimming with rustic crafts. Several friends simply assumed I was doing a documentary on AIDS. After all, what else does one film in Africa?

The little-known fact is that businesses are thriving throughout Africa. With good governance and sound fiscal policies, countries like Botswana, Ghana, Uganda, Senegal and many more are bustling, their economies growing at surprisingly robust rates.

Private enterprise is not just limited to the well-behaved nations. You can't find a more war-ravaged land than Somalia, which has been without a central government for more than a decade. The big surprise? Private enterprise is flourishing. Mogadishu has the cheapest cell phone rates on the continent, mostly due to no government intervention. In the northern city of Hargeysa, the markets sell the latest satellite phone technology. The electricity works. When the state collapsed in 1991, the national airline went out of business. Today, there are five private carriers and price wars keep the cost of tickets down. This is not the Somalia you see in the media.

Obviously life there would be dramatically improved by good governance -- or even just some governance -- but it's also true that, through resilience and resourcefulness, Somalis have been able to create a functioning society..."

Again, if you'd like to read more then please click [here] and remember, if you have not yet had the chance to view this DVD click [here] and order a few for you and some friends. Also, we have not nailed down a date yet, but Carol has accepted an invitation to do a brief question and answer here on The Benin Epilogue sometime in the near future. Hopefully, this will be much sooner, rather than later. But of course, Carol, I know that between being a journalist and traveling to and from different parts of Africa, you are an extremely busy person. So this invitation will remain open and I'm sure the readers here will be very anxious to learn more about you when you are able to stop by to do the Q & A.

Also before I forget it should be pointed out the email address listed on the article for Ms. Pineau is incorrect. The correct email address for her is [africabiz at aol.com]. So folks, please stay tuned...And we hope to have more good news for you to come.....

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: Carol Pineau, Africa Open for Business, Ghana Stock Exchange, Databank, Africa enterprise, Somalia

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Africa Bloggers Appreciation

This post is dedicated to all of the Africa bloggers out there. Whether you blog about entertainment, business, politics, travel, or sports if it pertains to Africa this blogs (post) for you! You guys deserve much, much credit and recognition. I say this because the Africa bloggers out there are really beginning to change the world perceptions and expectations of Africa. It has been so unscripted and so fresh that I don't believe that anyone saw it coming. But, you all are writing about the things that many more conventional media forms are, for whatever reason, unable or unwilling to cover. To the extent that now Africa Blogs are more and more becoming sources that mainstream media are beginning to turn towards for additional views and resources.

While doing this your community or our community has begun to shrink cultural and national barriers in the process. For this I am glad and say, Thank you! While I sincerely wish that I could thank each and everyone Africa-blogger individually and one by one, that would be nearly impossible for me to do in one sitting. So, instead, what I will do is try to briefly highlight the Africa blogs which have touched me, personally. Whether you as an Africa blogger have commented on my blog, discussed by blog in one of your posts, answered one of my many questions, given me advice added me to your blog roll, or even just provided me a a wonderful read-you will be listed below (in no particular order):

• Africa Entrepreneur
• African Path
• Africabeat
• Basawad's Safari Notes
• Bazungu Bucks
• Dibussi Tande
• ethiopundit
• Global Voices Online: SSA
• Grandiose Parlor
• In an African Minute
• Investing in Africa
• Jackfruity
• Jewels in the Jungle
• Money Talk-Nigeria
• My Heart's In Accra
• Noli Irritare Leones
• The Concoction-Ethiopia
• Sudanese Thinker
• Timbuktu Chronicles
• White African
• A Kenyan Entrepreneur
• Bankelele
• Odegle Nyang Investments
• Rants, Raves & Reviews
• Startups in Kenya

One more thing to any Africa blogger that I have missed, please forgive me. Please also note that in the coming weeks there will be more posts highlighting various Africa bloggers. If you know of anyone that you would like to see highlighted in one of these posts please let me know, so that we may do that. To you Africa bloggers that are mentioned above, I really appreciate what you are doing, please keep it up, and I look forward to us continuing to build this space that we call home-the Africa blogosphere.

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: Africa bloggers, African blogosphere, blog Africa, African media, Afican news

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7 Lessons from Africa's Successful Entrepreneurs?

So far The Benin Epilogue has attempted to tackle several different issues. Key among them have been:

• Building awareness about the entrepreneurs behind a few of Africa's most thriving enterprises
• Helping to illustrate why foreign firms should do more foreign direct investment in Africa
• Attempting to showcase the diversity that exists in Africa's business environment

One of the topics which we have not touched on yet, here, is what can a entrepreneur in Africa do to find success? Have you ever asked yourself that question or wondered if the entrepreneurs being discussed on these pages share anything in common? Well, if you did, then we are on the same page-because that's what this post is all about. The reason that I have waited for so long in bringing it into the fold here is that it seems like such a complex question. After all, there are many different types of entrepreneurs in Africa. By this I mean that they come from different social and economic backgrounds, different ethnic and language groups, different countries and regions of Africa, some of them are exporting products, while others are serving local markets, and then there are the different educational backgrounds. Maybe, attempting to find such a commonality is like attempting to put a square peg into a triangle peg's slot-but then again there's only one way to find out.

Before we move deeper into this discussion, let me say this-I know that ten entrepreneurs in Africa (that's the number that we have done mini-profiles on) is a small number. However, my rational for starting here, with these ten, was that my hope to be unbiased and also to see whether we could spot a trend or two. For instance, if you had someone who just arbitrarily said that they think that doing x, y, and z could make someone wealthy, what would you think about that person? Now, what if that same person was able to say, "after studying the 5 wealthiest people in the world, I have found they shared they all shared the following 3 habits in common, which have contributed to their wealth" would you listen, then? My point exactly! So, let's see what these ten entrepreneurs share in common:

1. Each of them has made their business into a platform or a bigger cause, almost taking on the an evangelistic role for their particular industry or products.
2. These entrepreneurs have shown a degree of perseverance in the face of heavy obstacles.
3. They have made building strong relationships a big part of building their businesses.
4. Adapting thinking, processes, products, and/or services to their local environments.
5. The willingness and ability to gain a very keen understanding of the overall social, economic, or political climate of the region in which they do business.
6. Most of them built their businesses around their own personal experiences and as a result ended up creating niche-targeted businesses.
7. Whether it was in obtaining start-up funds, seeking advice, or in finding others to help run the business these entrepreneurs were not afraid to seek help.

Now, those were the similarities found amongst the entrepreneurs who've been profiled here. However, this is probably no where near being exhaustive. Thus, if you an entrepreneur doing business in Africa and you'd like to add to this list or comment on it- we'd really like to know.

Of course, even if you are not an entrepreneur in Africa, your comments are still very much appreciated. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: African entrepreneurship, success in Africa, Africa Trade, African start-up, foreign investment in Africa, Kenyan entrepreneur, South African business woman, Rwandan investment, Ghana start-up, Nigerian Businessman, Zimbabwe-born entrepreneur, Benin investment, Senegalese Business-woman

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From The Investment Safari

Take the Investment Safari: "Rwanda is a country that has been on my mind a great deal, these days.... As a matter of fact, my wife and I are planning a trip to Kenya this year and while there, we hope to make it into Kigali (Rwanda's capital). There are just so many fascinating things about Rwanda, these are a few of the things that intrigue me:

* They will soon be joining the East African Community, which is the regional intergovernmental orginazation currently comprised of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

* They have taken a proactive approach to investment promotion-coffee (often through fair trade ventures) and IT have been two of their major focal points.

* They have gotten rid of capital punishment.

* Rwanda's tourism sector is beginning to rebound nicely.

* The country's 'turnaround' from massive civil strife and turmoil to beacon of hope."

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Today's Profiles in Entrepreneurship: Magatte Wade-Marchand

Today's Profiles in Entrepreneurship takes us halfway across the globe and back again through France, Germany, and the US (Silicon Valley). Fortunately for Magatte Wade-Marchand this story did not begin there, but rather it began at the time and place of her birth in Senegal, West Africa. That's because this Founder and President of Adina Worldbeat Beverages found the inspiration for the business that she founded on a trip back home to Senegal.
So let's see if we can find out how she got there. But first, you may want to go an find your world atlas for this one. Magatte Wade-Marchand's background includes being born and spending part of her childhood in Senegal. Then moving to Germany where she spent the rest of her childhood and school years. That was until she moved to France and earned her MBA there. After earning her MBA in France she moved to the United States. Along the way Ms. Wade-Marchand became an expert at sourcing African products and directly helping farmers in the process. Also notable is the fact that she managed to keep her love for Senegalese juice beverages close to her heart after so many years abroad.

During a visit to her homeland in 2003 Ms. Wade-Marchand an interesting observation. To her dismay the healthy juice drinks that embodied everything that Senegal meant to her had been replaced by their western and carbonated counterparts-soft drinks and colas. This set in motion within Magatte the desire to continue the Senegalese tradition and share it with the world. In doing so, she also hoped to also re-awaken within the people of Senegal the yearning for a beautiful flicker of light that this juice drink embodies-a love for Senegal's culture and traditions. It wasn't long after this that she met Greg Steltenpohl. He was the entrepreneur behind the Odwalla juice empire, which started from humble beginnings as a hand squeezed juice company and later went on to become part of a multi-million dollar deal with Coca Cola Company. After Mr. Steltenpohl's departure from the company that he helped to build he was very reluctant to get involved in an executive capacity in another start up. In fact, this was one of the first things that he told Magatte during their initial conversation. However, after hearing her story he was convinced that he'd found something different. They went on to raise over $1 million in start up capital and have expanded their vision to include "reviving authentic beverages and improving the livelihood of rural communities".

They have been making history every since. Below is an excerpt from their vision page, which can be found on their website:

"In Senegal, beverages like Bissap used to welcome you into every home with warmth and hospitality. When Adina founder Magatte Wade-Marchand returned to her tropical homeland of Senegal, she noticed that something was missing. The juices she loved as a child were being replaced by the trendy soft drinks of the western world. Upon her return to California, she met with Odwalla founder Greg Steltenpohl and vented her frustration over the disappearance of these traditional recipes. Together with Greg's French wife Dominique and a tightly knit group of experienced partners, they decided to dedicate themselves to reviving these authentic beverages and improving the livelihood of rural communities...In Wolof, Senegal's primary indigenous language, Adina means life in its creative and spiritual dimension."

Well, I hope that you enjoyed that you have enjoyed this mini-profile of this driven and innovative entrepreneur and as always I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: Senegal, Adina Worldbeat Beverages, Magatte Wade, Magatte Wade-Marchand, Odwalla, source African products, Wolof, African Women entrepreneurs

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Carnival of Capitalists

David Maister has the latest version of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This week's posts seem to be an above average group, so be sure to pop over and check it out.

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Friends of African Business Profiles-Phillip Nganga

Recently, I have had the pleasure of meeting someone really special. His name is Phillip Mungai Nganga. He is unique in that he is involved in two really huge projects, at the same time. There are many things which make Mr. Nganga
unique, but I suppose what strikes me the most about him is that he is doing
both jobs extremely well.

This gentleman is a social entrepreneur, bridging the gap between government, businesses,
and children in need. He also maintains an active role as a coordinator for the Kenyan government's Ministry of Youth Affairs Steering Committee for the National Youth Council.

The reason that I invited him for a Q & A on The Benin Epilogue is that although he is not a for-profit entrepreneur, his work for both offices helps Kenya in the area of regional economic development. The other reason that he is here is that starting a non profit company is also a form of entrepreneurship, it just so happens that we haven't really discussed it much here,
until today. Below is the transcript of our question and answer session. By the way, I owe
the pleasure of meeting this gentleman to my very thoughtful wife, who introduced us.
Mimu-Asante sana, mpenzi!


Q. What are your actual job titles?

A.
1. CEO, Vizazi International, Kenya and Germany
2. Coordinator, National Steering Committee on the Kenya National Youth Council and
the Youth Council formulation process.

Q. What aspects of your two offices relate to economic development?

A. Vizazi International is bringing into the country foreign currency, and investing into
the social development of Kenya’s young ones, which is a path to a future economic independence for the children and youth, who would otherwise lack such an
opportunity.

Q. What part of Kenya are you from, what was your childhood like, and how did it
influence you?

A.
I was born in Central Kenya, in a small agricultural community, where I learnt to work in
the farm, to graze and to milk the cows at the earliest opportune time. To me, it was not
child labor…it was what I had to do to earn an education and a better life. As my parents
would put it, only education would liberate me. It made me a strong person, it made me
build a spirit of determination, it made me want to better my position, it made me want to
break out of that cycle of lack, and be able to give back to the people. Many times, I would
fold my arms, put my face to them and cry. It is hard to say why I did that, but now when I think back, I had a passionate anger about my condition, and my tears were tears of anger, which motivated me. Yet, my parents were not the poorest in the village.

Q. How did my family affect my career goals?

A.
My father wanted me to be a lawyer. I wanted to be more than just a lawyer. I did not
want to one day leave this world and have a plaque on my grave saying, “He was a
lawyer”. I wanted something different from life. And so my father and I didn't agree
most of the time. But, my father gave up so much for the community, and that has taught
me a lot. However, many times when we were young we wished our father was
not a pastor but a hot-shot businessman. When I look back now, I am proud of who
he is and who he was then. Recently, he told me am just a preacher man like him, only
that we have two different types of congregations. He is right.

Q.What are your short term goals?

A.
1. Help our government complete the it's work in progress-the National Youth Council
2. Set up an international network of professionals working together for a
better Africa.
3. Build a village of Hope for Kenyan Orphans, through the family model.
4. Educate the world on the positive sides of Africa.

Q. What's your long term goal?

A.
My long term goal is to help lead Africa into a new social and economic promised land.

Q. What is your outlook on Kenya's youth, do I think their conditions will change,
and why?

A.

Kenya's youth are amongst the some of the most learned in Africa; they have what
it takes to be agents of change in our country. All that they need is a visionary
master plan, and a great inspiration, which I believe we are helping to facilitate
right now.

Things are changing in Kenya. There is a new awakening for the Kenya's youth.
They have realized they need to rise up to claim their position in helping to develop
our beloved country. The national Youth Policy is the blue print for youth development.
Our government has recognized the role the youth play in the political and socio-economic dynamics of our country. The government is very serious on Youth Empowerment,
hence the setting up of the Youth Development Fund.


Q. The biggest obstacle I have had to overcome to bring change to Kenya’s youth.

A.
Many people thought that what we are doing would never happen, because the
process took so long. But with resilience, and determination, we are making change and
it has happened. It hasn't just been myself, these accomplishments have been brought
about by a team that worked tirelessly, even before we had the ministry of youth!
Now people are happy that we did not give up. So, looking back I would say that our
biggest obstacle has been pessimism, but now that's starting to change people are
seeing a difference.

To learn more about Mr Nganga, Vizazi International, or Kenya's Ministry of Youth Affairs
click [here].

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: Economic development, social entrepreneur, Vizazi, Kenya, Kenya Ministry of Youth Affairs, social investment, Phillip Mungai Nganga

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Business News from Botswana

This, I thought, was an interesting story about a business person in Botswana whose company offers an innovative answer to old furniture and upolstry eyesores.

"...Raptec Investments specialises in the manufacture and renovation of furniture and vehicle interiors. Kgotla Rapitsenyane, the company's managing director identified a need in Palapye for upholstery services. 'We repair car seats, repair car floor carpets, car roofing according to clients' requests. We can match colours to make an impressive interior décor. My company also repairs car door panels,' Rapitsenyane said. Old home and office furniture is also given a new lease of life at Raptec Investments. The company manufactures couches, with some made out of cane from Zimbabwe. However, Rapitsenyane says the leather couches have proved to be popular with the Palapye community.

Beanbags, which he says are also a favourite with the community, are designed according to clients' requests.

'We also make leather handbags, polish leather jackets and leather sofas and restore their colours,' he said.

At the company's workshop, situated at Palapye's old mall, they also manufacture television stands and chest of drawers using cane. He says that they make almost any furniture, from reception office furniture to home furniture..."
Source: AllAfrica

The company refurbishes old furniture and upolstry, they also offer new light-manufactured furniture items, as well. If this business concept was transplanted, if you will, to other parts of Africa whether the local economies are strong or weaker, this would probably be a success therealso. I say this because this is just the type of creativity (local solutions for local demands or local demand for local solutions) that I observed in both Kenya and Ghana; it is part of the reason that my level of optimism for African business is so high.

Tags: Botswana, Kenya, Ghana, African manufacture, African demand

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Nigeria's Diamond in the Ruff?

What if....what if there was a product that could be made in Africa, boost local employment, earn foreign exchange, and enhance Africa's image outside of Africa all at the same time? That would be tremendous, am I right? In fact, just performing one of these items in good fashion, in any part of the world, would probably earn the business person or persons behind the effort major recognition. So, it should follow that anyone whom is able to simultaneously do all five of these functions, plus do it in Africa, should attract major international press covergage-right? If you are nodding your head "yes" that's exactly what I did too. However, there is such a product-that is made in Africa. Many of you may not have heard of it before, but I am sure that most of my readers who are from Africa are at least somewhat familiar with it. This brings us to today's topic-Nigerian cinema.

You see, whether we are talking about employing from local labor pools, earning export revenues, or allowing Nigerians to tell their own story this industry has been doing each of the above for at least 30 years. Below you may find a few facts about Nigeria's cinema industry:

• Africa's largest cinema/films producer.
• Nigeria is the third largest films producer in the world, after America and India.
• Many people both inside and outside of industry circles refer to Nigeria cinema as "Nollywood".
• Produces roughly between 1,000 and 2,000 films per year.
• On average, 15,000 to 20, 000 DVD's is what one might expect from in sales from the typical Nigerian movie. However, blockbusters may sell up to ten times or more that amount or 200,000 - 300,000 copies.
• Average production budget is between $15,000 to $25,000 per title.
• This is a fully privatised industry in Nigeria and employs over 300,000 people annually.
• This industry brings $250m into Nigeria's economy every year.
• Most of these films are completed within a few days, they can be found throughout Africa and penetrate the African market outside of Nigeria, while also making their way abroad.
• Most of these films go straight to video or DVD and sell for $3 each.

This is but a sample of information about cinema in Nigeria and since I wanted to specifically highlight Nigeria's achievements; the focus of this post is on Nigeria, as opposed to Africa as a whole. However, if I didn't at least mention a few points about some of Africa's other players in this arena, I might be doing them a dis-service. So, if you'd like to catch a glimpse into some of Africa's other promising cinema/film creation hubs, plus find relates links click [here].

In conclusion, I'd say that Nigerian cinema is already a diamond. But what do you think?Also, do you think that the same could be said for African cinema outside of Nigeria? And just out of curiousity, could you ever see yourself investing either in Nigeria's film industry or in any of Africa's other cinema hubs? Well, if you said yes, you might not be alone. In fact, you might find yourself having some unlikely company-Wesley Snipes and Danny Glover, both of whom seem to be very interested in playing a huge role in the future of African cinema. Hmmmm.....

One last thing that I'd like to say is that I think this dovetails very nicely with a post that Black River Eagle recently added to his blog over at Jewels In the Jungle. This post discusses the perception of Africa -vs- the reality-please check it out. I bring it up because, like my post his also deals with Africa telling her own story and possibly improving her image simultaneously.

As always, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: Africa Cinema, Nigeria Cinema, Nollywood, Wesley Snipes, Danny Glover in Africa, Africa Film Industry

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Milestone!

Today marks an important milestone in my life, today is the day that I helped an entrepreneur in West Africa get funding to start a micro-business. It was not much but, knowing that this business person will be able to fufill his dreams, just because of my conversation with an American business person is wonderful.

My hope is that in the future many more entrepreneurs in Africa receive some type of tangible benefits as a result of networking on this blog-whether it is making an important contact, finding a new partner, buying or selling products, or etc. At any rate, just thought I'd share that with you.

Do you have a success story such as this one, please let us know.

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: investment, financing, funding, west africa, micro-business, micro funding

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Drumroll....Tag-You Are It!

To all of my readers this post is a bit of a departure from the normal content that you find here. But, every now and then, it's really nice to just unwind and spruce up the day with something really different. A few days ago a prominent blogger (and an exceptional business person) reached out to me on his blog and challenged me (tagged me) to list 5 or 6 "bare all" facts about myself and then go out and tag someone else-so that they can do the same thing.

So let's begin, here are a few things that you may not have known about me:

1. My name-Benin. It comes from an ancient empire or nation state in West Africa called Benin.
2. I am a second( in my family) , not first generation Africa enthusiast. My father and his brother began learning about and visiting Africa before I was born.
3. Before I became interested in business as a profession, my eyes were set on being an engineer or a detective.
4. My favorite past-times outside of blogging, of course, are eating and drinking coffee!
5. My favorite entertainers are Cedric the Entertainer and Michael Blackson-their stand up rocks!
6. Outside of Africa, the place that I'd most like to visit is Paris, France.
7. If I was a professional athlete the sport that I'd most likely compete in would be wrestling (the Rock, consider yourself fortunate!). During high school and briefly in college I competed in Roman Graeco-and was actually really good at the sport.

Passing It On-Consider Yourself Tagged:

• World News
• Eric
• White African
• African Womens Blogs
• Feed the Bull
  
• African Path

Now that wasn't so bad was it? At any rate folks, I hope this was as good to you as it was for me (laugh) and please join us again soon for more African business blogging!

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: Tag, Blogs, World News, My Blog Log, White African, African Womens Blogs, Feed the Bull, African Path

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2006 In Review: African Business & Blogging

2006 was quite a year, wasn't it?

Both for myself and for Africa's business climate as a whole. As for me, the year 2006 did provide it's share of ups and downs. However, all and all...I'd have to say that the ups far outweighed my downs. For starters, 2006 was the year that I decided to stop waiting...and that now is the best time to make a serious effort to promote business in Africa. Up until 2006, my plan was to wait until after all of my other goals were already in place and then start an organization to do something in Africa. Now, that that my goals have been re-prioritized everything just seems so much clearer. Then there is the blogging, prior to November 2006 if anyone had asked me what is a blog, they may as well have been asking my 4 year old daughter. But now blogging is so much a part of my everyday life that it is almost impossible for me to go one day without doing something that relates to blogging.

Anyway, to make a long story short I figured it would be really cool to summarize a few of blogs that helped me in many different ways in 2006.

These blogs inspired me in 2006 (as it relates to Africa or Business in Africa, in no particular order)

• African Entrepreneur
• Timbuktu Chronicles
• Africabeat
• Blackinbusiness
• In An African Minute
• Grandiose Parlor
• Jewels In the Jungle
• Chippla
• Global Voices
• Investing In Africa
• Bankele
• The Sudanese Thinker
• Coldtusker
  

As far as business news from Africa in 2006, the topic that provoked the most thought in me was the China Africa Summit. From the looks of it I would say that this Summit had a lot of bloggers thinking hard in 2006. Prior to the summit the news story called, "Africa Open for Business" was a major turning point for me, as well.

Now, we that we are in 2007 let me just say, I am happy to be here! No deep soliloquy's here in what 2007 will hold in store-just my hope that I can be a catalyst and help business people outside of Africa to realize what they could be missing out on.

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: Africa entrepreneur, timbuktu chronicles, africabeat, blackinbusiness, In An African Minute, Grandiose Parlor, Jewels In the Jungle, Chippla, Global Voices, Investing in Africa, Bankele, The Sudanese Thinker, Coldtusker

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Todays Profiles in Entrepreneurship: James Makawa

For the last entrepreneur profile of 2006, we will look at the life of someone whose most recent work impacts my life on a daily basis. In fact, this gentleman together with a small group colleagues has given America a wonderful gift.

The gift that I am referring to is that of another view of Africa, from the urban perspective and also from an insiders point of view. This means that Americans may now get to know the people of Africa on an individual person-by-person basis. Are you wondering just what exactly this gift might be? I am sure there must be a few of you who already may know. But without delaying much further James Makawa is the co-founder of The Africa Channel.

Mr. Makawa's achievements are many. So many, in fact, that if we were to go into each one of them, this post would be nearly never-ending. To avoid this, I am trying something different. If you would like to view my makeshift time line summarizing some of his accomplishments you may click here.

I hope that 2006 has been good to you; it is also my sincere hope that you have enjoyed everything brought to you by The Benin Epilogue in 2006. Happy New Year and let's see you again very soon!

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Tags: James Makawa, Andrew Young, The Africa Channel, African Media, African business, African Broadcaster

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