Browsing: Doing business in africa

The US and China, two of the world's biggest superpowers, are currently in the midst of a trade war. The battle centres around the uneven trade deficit between the two countries. While Africa may not be a direct participant of the war, there is a risk of the continent getting caught in the crossfire. 

The Titans At War  

In 1995, the US-China trade deficit stood at around $45 billion in favour of China. By 2018, the trade deficit had reached approximately $420 billion.  

The ballooning deficit triggered a response from the American administration which accused China of unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft.  Both parties threw words, tariffs and tweets in each other's direction. Truce talks have provided periodic calm periods in between the storm. Both economies have suffered in the process recording significant declines in exports, income and local business activity. The rest of

The African continent takes pride in its rich natural resources. The continent boasts of a wide range of minerals, oil, gas, and wildlife among many other commodities. Most African economies are heavily dependent on these resources. Revenue for most is mainly commodity-driven for example, Botswana’s diamonds make up 90% of the country's total exports. In Nigeria, oil accounts for more than 80% of exports and Zambia is reliant on its copper mines for 70% of its exports.  

In the majority of cases, African countries are net exporters of the raw commodity making them more vulnerable to the price shocks and changes in demand. Facilitating trade within Africa may be the roadmap to unlocking Africa’s economic potential.  

Also Read: All eyes on EAC border points as massive delays bite | KenTrade

Two of Africa’s largest trading partners, the US and China, have been dueling for world economic dominance. There

While many company executives focus on product development and budget cuts, forgetting that the company success will largely depend on customer satisfaction. As we wrestle with Covid-19 pandemic and global recession, how companies interact with their customers is more vital than ever before making customer experience as the key ingredient that will determine the success of any company. 

Most research carried out in 2020 such as Adobe Digital Trends, ranks customer experience at the top a head of digital marketing, video marketing and even social media. A survey by Deloitte in 2017 on Global Contact Center, found that 88 percent of companies now prioritize customer experience in their contact centres. Companies offering better customer experience earned between 4 and 8 percent more than their competitors as seen in SmartInsights and Temkin Group 2019. Brands that create a company culture focused on customers help their employees work together to

None of us particularly like money-lenders and few of us would want the stress and unpleasantness of being the type of money-lender that proliferates in cities like Kampala – leeching returns of 10% a month against assets pledged by desperate borrowers.  The reason that these bloodsuckers can exist is that access to credit on reasonable terms, or at all, from banks is still so difficult to get for most businesses.  

Also Read: Mobile money loans affecting banks’ lending – report

The fact is that there are some great businesses that cannot grow and often struggle to survive because cash-flow is such a huge problem. In Europe many businesses use “factoring” to improve their business cash-flow and reduce the time they spend trying to collect money. But the truth is that the banks that provide this service are so selective about the businesses they deal with and the invoices they process

VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) in Sub-Saharan Africa presents challenges to doing business that are distinct and unique to each market in the region. Such issues as political and economic risk which affect business decisions and hamper business growth in some climes, language barriers and cultural distinctions which affect communication and understanding in trade and currency value disparities all create opportunities for solutions through strategic government relations.  

Also Read:Coveting larger markets: Ethiopia’s bid to join WTO

Forbes®, in defining the meaning of the acronym, explains that ‘Volatility’ refers to rate of change at a market or global scale. The more volatile the market is, the higher its chances of change. ‘Uncertainty’ deals with the level of confidence with which the future can be predicted. Where the market situation is uncertain, there is greater difficulty to predict and anticipate a market shift. ‘Complexity’, which refers

The Tanzania Horticultural Association (Taha) is reporting an increase in revenue from the export of avocados which until now were not considered key export cash crop. 

However growing demand in the US and Europe has seen the sub-sector increase revenue to US$23 million annually. 

Tanzania is the second largest producer of avocado fruit in Africa second only to Kenya. Over the past five years, avocado exports have leap-frogged from 1,877 tonnes in 2014 to 9,000 tonnes in 2019 and were it not for the COVID-19 outbreak, this figure was expected to go higher. 

Also Read: COVID-19 response must target African agriculture and the rural poor

Kenya is already doing much better with its estimated annual output of about 190,000 tonnes as the country exports an average of 10,000 metric tonnes annually. 

In Tanzania, there are about 10,000 farmers of the crop who