Who’s in Success in Africa?

One of the myths Success in Africa may put to rest is that Africa is populated only with small or medium enterprises (SMEs).^* SMEs are an important part of economic growth in Africa, as elsewhere, but focus on these as the only success stories in Africa can leave global business unclear as to whom and how they would engage.

For that reason, Success in Africa focuses on African leaders of very large companies—companies like MTN and SABMiller, ^† both among the more than forty African companies identified as globally competitive by the Boston Consulting Group.⁴ You will meet the leaders who grew these companies and hear their perspectives on Africa and on doing business in a fast-growth, frontier market.

Including only the largest African companies would fail to capture all that is happening in Africa and what the global investor or business leader should know. In Africa, as elsewhere, much of the innovation and future growth rest in immature industries with smaller companies. In particular, the advances in African ICT and private equity are exciting, and so this book includes businesses in both sectors, based more on their products, accomplishments, and the insights of their founders than on their size.

You will also find stories of non-African business leaders who have succeeded in Africa. Ultimately, Africa’s future rests with African businesses. However, the stories and insights of men like Tullow Oil’s Aidan Heavey or the global perspective of leaders like Coca Cola’s Neville Isdell and GE’s Jeff Immelt also have great value for readers who want to understand the journey from the “developed” to the “developing” world.

As indicated by the subtitle, this is a book about business leaders. This focus on the individual reflects a belief that leadership plays a critical role in the development of companies, countries, continents, and history. These leaders provide a sense of Africa one could not get from anyone else. They are also, to a person, compelling and enjoyable to read about.

The men and women whose perspectives are included here are or have been active CEOs. None is a passive investor and all have built enterprises based on more than inherited wealth. That does not mean every business leader in this book began with nothing (though many did). In Africa, as elsewhere, if you have wealth, position, or education, your chances of success are higher.

Some of the CEOs you will meet are from well-off families, others from families just well enough off to send their boys to good high schools. Some were born with few resources beyond a strong-willed mom. What they have in common is that all pushed far beyond the platform given them. Consider Vimal Shah’s comment on success:

I think in Africa success can mean a lot of things. Success means that you have overcome many obstacles. If you have a billion invested in Africa, was it an easy thing or was it a difficult thing to do? Was it innovative? I think the leaders of even small companies would be counted as very successful if they actually had all the odds stacked against them, and they had the “leading edge, ” where it was difficult to get in there, but they still did it.

All of the participating business leaders have created or grown highly productive, competitive enterprises. I was well advised on this point by author and Oxford economist Paul Collier. Paul offered thoughts early about this book, in particular on the persistent skepticism of foreign investors and global firms towards African businesses. I asked him why he thinks it persists. “They think it’s all rent seeking, ” he said, using the economic term for making a profit without making a product, producing wealth, or otherwise contributing to society. “Show them companies in Africa producing real goods for real value and doing it at scale.” Success in Africa does that.

Closely tied to the suspicion of rent seeking is the belief that business leaders in Africa succeed only because they have the right connections, especially in government. Strong government relationships are part of success in Africa. That’s true in the United States and in many other countries as well, where lobbying, political contributions, and trade associations each represent an accepted path businesses use to enhance returns by engaging government. Many of the business leaders in this book, though not all, have robust relationships with governments. It is one skill among many that have enabled them to build great businesses.

While writing Success in Africa, I was challenged many times to define commercial success in Africa. Perhaps no challenge was more powerful than the one presented by an African business leader of tomorrow. In October 2012, the Harvard Business School’s Africa Business Club was kind enough to spend time with me to talk about the work in progress. These young men and women are supremely capable and globally savvy. Reflecting on who should be counted a success in Africa, one MBA student from Nigeria put forward this poser:

My question is how do you become successful in Africa and also in the interests of Africa? You can become a successful African monopolist, right? You can get a concession and you’re licensed to import diesel in a country where they need twenty million liters of diesel every day and you’re not adding any value. You’re just capturing value and creating inefficiencies. Is that what you want your legacy to be or do you want to be the kind of entrepreneur that actually creates jobs, that creates an environment for younger people. Are you someone who creates opportunity for them to thrive and can enable them, can impart knowledge to them?

Can one define success in Africa independent of the interests of Africa? I would not.

Africa is not a charity case and African businesses are not philanthropies. As I argue in chapter 4, the path to future business success in Africa is intertwined with meeting the massive needs of the continent. Social value and shareholder value are not in parallel, they are not “shared, ” they need not be measured on a double or triple bottom line. For the companies in this book, social value is a critical success factor in their business. Full stop.

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