Africans cannot do business, not just yet

Africans cannot do business, not just yet

I am responding to Timothy Kalyegira’s interesting article when he wonders why Africans cannot succeed like Indians or whites in business. in another article by Andrew Mwenda in the Independent, he wondered whether Africa will be the next big thing in terms of economic growth. These two people, Kalyegira and Mwenda are journalists I respect for their knowledge and objectivity over the years. Not that I do not respect others but to me they have proven themselves. One of the key things about their writings is that they are informed, they are researched.

Poverty and jobs are on everybody’s lips as one of the biggest challenges that Africa has. I will pose a silly question, do Africans know they are poor? Many Africans are comfortable and pleased with themselves with their state. They are happy to have their extended families and eat the communal food that they eat and live day to day. Indeed, negative literature about Africa, has said that all Africans do is make noise, have sex and produce children. They has been these articles circulating about what former South African President Botha said and what the Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu has been saying about Arabs and Africans. Netanyahu’s attitude towards Barack Obama is well known. Invariably, Europeans get surprised by the conduct of Africans and of course I must add Arabs in this category. They will also be surprised at the business attitude and practices if both Indians and Arabs.

My proposition is Africans cannot do business, not just yet. It is foreign to them. The concept of business emerged in the western world following the industrial revolution. At that time, the west had to transform from the feudal society to one where the peasants had to work in factories to live. Around the same time in Europe, there was a period of renaissance, a period of enlightenment, education and training emerged as part of life. The socialization of west was transformed from the feudal society to an industrialized society. Majority of the population in Africa, still live in rural areas and depend on subsistence farming. A small number of these who become urbanized or educated, attempt to go into business. indeed they are very good civil servants because the training makes them that but they are not good businessmen because they do not have that training. They do not have that socialization. Their socialization continues to be one of the extended family and happiness sought in having children, and belonging to a society. To be able to get where they are, the developed countries have gone through tremendous change. The world wars killed millions of peoples. The civil wars in the United States, the Bolshevik revolution in Russia among others were part of the transformation process. Reading books like the Grapes of Wroth will explain to you the transformation of countries like the United States from a feudal society to a modern industralised society. Unfortunately this has not happened in Africa. Business is foreign to Africans. As long as there is a fallback position of family, friends and even political massaging, Africans cannot take business as a way of life. We need a revolution that will transform African societies to prepare it for business. We need the insecurity that is created by the factory system where if you have no job, you will not live. It is only then that Africa will wake up and compete with the Asian and European communities in business.

Timothy, to me this explains why in many Africans countries, it is the Indian, Chinese or the European that is commanding business. they have been socialized to know that without an economic activity there will be no future.