South African multinational organisations exporting product or skills into Africa will fail to achieve long-term growth if they focus on short-term wins rather than investing in uplifting skills in the country where they are doing business.
This is the opinion of Peter Retief, African Operations Executive at leading South African ICT company Comparex Africa. "If a company is to successfully develop a sustainable business model in Africa, management must actively invest in upgrading skills in the host country. This may include training or developing partnerships with local businesses."
He warns however that learning is a two-way process. "While South African professionals are required to share their knowledge, they must be open to learning from their "students". They have a responsibility to learn about the local culture and business etiquette. "While South Africans are known for being more adaptable than their European or American counterparts when doing business in Africa, we can also come across as arrogant. It is crucial when doing business outside of our borders that we remember each African country requires a different approach."
Retief says that inculcating this adaptability of approach is critical if a company is to succeed. Particularly if it is exporting skills. "Knowledge breeds power. Power brings arrogance," he says. "Management must take responsibility for the development of a culture that is conducive to information sharing.
The IT industry is increasingly seeing Africa as a growth area. Best of breed ICT providers such as Sun and Cisco Systems have indicated that over the next two year they expect a 30% growth in Africa. Solutions providers such as Comparex Africa also expect to see an increase in demand for the more sophisticated end-to-end ICT solutions. However this potential growth presents a challenge for African IT companies, which are lagging behind their South African counterparts in terms of delivering an end-to-end ICT solution. "The bulk of the demand is still for delivering a set of products," he says. "However we expect this to turn around as an increasing number of multinationals operate in Africa and there is an increasing emergence of government infrastructural projects.
"IT firms operating in Africa are keen to boost their skills," says Retief. "In order that they can differentiate themselves from their competitors and attract the bigger projects and more lucrative work. And it is our responsibility, as Africans, to support their growth across Africa."
Share
Editorial contacts