 Today, our replay is about the myths and realities of doing business in Africa. What CEOs should know? It is a two-part program. In part one, you'll be hearing from Steve Alsadak and Vawali Adiyoi. Part two, the myths and realities of doing business in Africa, what women CEOs should know. You'll hear from Miranda Naiman and Don Lines. We hope you enjoy the discussion and will benefit from it. And today, we sit down with two global business leaders to discuss the myths and realities of doing business in Africa. Steve Alsadak, founder and CEO of Agrcorp, an Egyptian-based agricultural producer and explorer, and Vawali Adumani Adiyoi, vice president of Investments for the Africa Finance Corporation, a Nigerian-based, Han-African investment-grade multilateral finance institution. Zeef and Vawali, welcome, and thank you for joining us today. Recently, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Africa to push for U.S. business investment in the continent. While this is part of President Biden's recently announced Africa Initiative, there are a myriad of opportunities and challenges for any CEO, U.S. or otherwise, interested in doing business in Africa. For the past 30 years, the African continent has been described as an emerging market global companies need to invest in. Many of the reasons are still valid, if not more so today. Africa is one of the largely untapped commercial regions in the world, with 54 countries comprising its continental GDP. It is rich in diversity and natural resources. It has one of the fastest growing populations of over 1.3 billion people, including a burgeoning workforce with more than half under the age of 25. As the continent's economies grow, so does the middle class, which presents an increasing consumer base for businesses looking to tap new markets. However, like all geographies and countries, doing business in Africa also comes with its fair share of challenges. One is the lack of infrastructure, which can make it challenging to transport goods and services across the continent. There are also different political, regulatory and legal frameworks among the 54 countries, making it difficult for businesses to navigate. And like other regions in the world, the lack of transparency and corruption adds another barrier to entry. But weighing the risks and the rewards, we ask the questions how should CEOs approach market entry on the African continent? Can companies rely solely on distributors, or do they need a local representative in priority markets to gather market intelligence, manage distributors, and build relationships with government? But Wally, maybe we can start with you. What are some of the most common misconceptions about doing business in Africa? So one of the biggest misconceptions is that Africa is too risky to invest in. In terms of the work that I do, which is developing infrastructure projects on the continent, Africa is the second least risky region in the world, according to Moody's analytics. So the Middle East has a lower default rate than Africa, but other than that, Africa has the lowest default rates after the Middle East. So basically, right, means is that on the flip side, the returns on the continent are actually higher than other regions. And so what that means for the risk-adjusted return is that it's actually much higher in Africa than the rest of the world. So that would be, for me, one of the biggest points is that the risk really is not as high as it is perceived to be. One of the other misconceptions is that Western models can be copied and pasted, or that perhaps if you have a model that works in one country, it can be replicated across all the countries. And yes, there are some similarities on the continent, but there are some unique differences. So one has to start with particular context about the nuances as you sort of look to expand into other countries in the region. I share the same, but what Baal is saying right now, being an Egyptian, we are a bit far from Africa, we're on the tip of North Africa, but I think a lot of the things that we will share together, it's not like doing business in the native country in the world is different. The cut and paste thing would not work in the countries that Egypt, that's what I'm talking about mainly, because these were by excuses. It's definitely not the same as working in any other place in the world. I would say that. So, Steve, you're in the agricultural sector, both production as well as exporting, yet Africa has lots of agricultural and natural resources. Are there any characteristics about the agricultural sector that are useful to share with people who are thinking about entering the continent as an investment? Your point about North Africa being separated from the rest of Africa is a major, major insight that people have to focus on. And I think the other one that Bawali was referring to is, look, Africa is not a country, it's a continent. And it has 54 different countries in it. And any time you're going to invest in a country, you have to understand that country and figure out what your strategy is for market entry. And you just can't assume that just because you want to be, for example, investing in Asia, that how you invest in Singapore is going to be the way you're going to invest in every other country in Asia. But as it relates to the agricultural sector, are there any insights, Steve, that are common threads across countries in Africa? I think Africa is very unique in the sense of its richness in agriculture. Agriculture dates back to thousands and thousands of years. And Africa today is not on the map. We are net importers of pretty much a lot of the ingredients that we use in the factories and the production over here. Nevertheless, I mean, the way that I would approach Africa, I would look at the raw materials that Africa has to offer. I would look at the ports that are in Africa because being an exporter, or we need an interaction with the outside world, the ports are a major advantage. So for example, us being in Egypt, we are four days away by both the Europe. We are 12 days away to the US. Working in the position player or company need access to the markets and access to the ports without having good ports or good lines that come in and out, then the development would be very difficult. But this is created by the big shippers, the MSEs, the big liners that have the services. I'm not sure if these guys have opposites to Africa or not, but I know that the Chinese, once they came into Africa, the first thing they did was building ports. They're very interested in having ports on East Africa where they can bring in the goods and ease of moving around. So Bawali, a lot of experience in ports and an infrastructure, as Steve's point is that without the ports, it's very difficult to have a business, at least a globally connected business in Africa. Your thoughts on that? Is that a current barrier to entry for companies wishing to invest in Africa? And maybe you could just describe the current state of port and infrastructure development across the continent that would be very tied to commercial success. So yes, I mean, most goods travel from Africa to the world and vice versa, using the ports infrastructure. And it is important that these ports are run and operated efficiently. So you have situations where some ports, there's no economies of scale and so they have to be some transshipments or larger ports and the goods being put on a smaller port, which is double handling and increases the cost of growing business. What I'm seeing in the work that we do today is actually a lot of these ports are currently upgrading the infrastructure to allow for larger vessels to burn. What that does is reduce the cost of transportation and obviously eventually the cost to the end users. But even in addition to the port infrastructure, you have a lot of the peripheral works around, you know, making sure that they're using they have strong IT systems in place. The equipment that they use in are efficient. And so all these things, so including the infrastructure, but equipment, IT systems, appropriate manpower, et cetera. A lot of there's a lot of development work going on right now on the continent to upgrade the African ports. And this will result in a low cost of doing business and a lower cost of living for the for the citizens. So port efficiency and clearance efficiency is really key in a sector like SEAFs, right, agriculture, where you have things that if there's an inefficiency, then your product is going to spoil and become unusable. SEAF, if if it's stuck in places where it shouldn't be stuck in some other industries, maybe it's not so much, right? If you have a product that is coming out, it doesn't have a time stamp on it for its relevance and usability. See from the agricultural sector, what would be the most important thing for a port operator and a country to know in order to become best practice for your company and the companies who are importing and exporting agricultural products from from Africa? I think that the ports and efficiency of the ports is tied to a lot of other businesses than agriculture. If you're in the para business, for example, you understand how the fashion moves in three or four different seasons a year. And it's very, very critical. You know, she is selling X, Y, Z in the US t-shirts. They have to arrive before summer by three months. They arrive in another summer and old production, old style, whatever. If you look at the global players, I mean, it doesn't exist anymore, a product without a stamp of expiry. It could be an expiry in the design. It could be an expiry in the food. It could be an expiry in whatever, you know. So I think if I look at Africa today, I would see Africa as a hub for agriculture. I see Africa as a hub for a parent. I see Africa as a hub for pharmaceuticals. I would think of Africa as a and it's a virgin market. It's a market that needs investment. It's a very different market than any other market that you see in Europe or in Asia or North America. But going back to the port efficiency and then you go back to the road efficient. You know, because once the stop gets on the port, then it needs to be transported. A lot of those countries don't have ports because I'm not I'm not sure maybe while I can answer that, how many countries in Africa actually don't have any ports? Yeah, it's about 17 African countries. And I don't think any other continent has as high a percentage of landlocked countries. And so that is a significant bottleneck in terms of transportation. And so it increases the cost of doing business. And you then need this intra Africa collaboration, right? To to ensure that these landlocked countries can get the goods and the services that they need and they can also export as well. So let's talk about collaboration. How can African countries make it easier for business investment? And maybe how can other countries see if it's just mentioning China? And I've opened the discussion with Vice President Harris and President Biden's initiatives. But how can other countries like the U.S. or other countries in Asia or the EU make it easier for their countries to invest in Africa? Maybe we ought to start Bawali with you with how can African countries make it easier for business investment? Right. So everyone says that infrastructure is the work of the government. But the government cannot, you know, build all the infrastructure and its entirety. They can the African government should definitely build some key infrastructure that are public, also a significant opportunity for public-private partnerships and what the governments can do and continue to do is to make the environment more conducive in terms of ensuring that the right policy and regulatory environments are appropriate, you know, increase the ease of doing business. And I think that is a significant thing is the government to increase its role as an enabler of private sector investments and of public-private partnerships. So if there were one example of a successful collaboration where governments either African and or international governments are collaborating and enabling progress with the private sector, does one come to mind that would be important for CEOs to think about and be mindful about how to utilize? I mean, I think if you look around the African continent, you'll see some countries that are significantly working to improve the ease of doing business. Rwanda comes to mind as one example where there is there's been a lot of significant and consistent work being done to increase the ease of doing business. And they actually are making a lot of progress, measurable progress, and you actually see a lot of inflow of foreign capital into into the country. So I'll say that there are a lot, for example, several organizations within the African continent, such as the Africa Finance Corporation, such as Africa 50 have been established and they have been established with collaboration within the public and the private sector to build infrastructure on the continent and to basically increase the cost of the private sector. Steve, from a North African perspective, are there examples that come to your mind about how governments and private sector are working collaboratively to advance and enable progress for private sector companies? I'll study one of the difficulties that we find as Egyptians or North African countries working in Africa. For example, we have a commissar. The commissar is a duty free agreement that we have with several countries on the East Coast of the African continent. OK, very strange, but we did a business in Africa in the past and we'd go into the commissar with that treaty going into a country, for example, and then the customs just doesn't approve of the treaty. They say, no, you have to pay customs. You know, so I think one of the things that you need to do if you get on the tip of the problem is the rule of law. OK, if there is a treaty that's been done between Egypt and the commissar or between Egypt and the US or between Africa and the US, two parties, this has to be respected and has to be respected on every level. OK, I cannot send a shipment in June and get the duty on it. And then another one in September with no duty. So it has to be, that's number one. So that number one thing is that everybody has to respect the same rules, the same laws, and then we can go from there. If you don't have that on the ground as a number one on your checklist, then everything else makes it more difficult. So execution and compliance with the with the commitments seems to be a worldwide dilemma for business. Yeah, all right, let's let's talk a little bit about from your experience examples of successful foreign companies operating in Africa today. What are some of the key factors contributing to the success of these companies that you have that come to mind? And see, why don't we start with you? And then Bawali, maybe you could talk about some success stories from foreign companies operating for us to count them. If you look around you today, you will find the top successful companies are all multinational. You look at Pepsi, you look at Coke, you look at the union labor, you look at Proctor and Gamble. I mean, those guys have done such a good job in Egypt and and and I would imagine the same in Africa. But this didn't come, you know, Pepsi didn't just wake up in the morning and say, hey, let's go and get the bottling plant running in in Rwanda or in Egypt, whatever. You need a local partner. That's my number one, number two, number three. OK, I would I would put that on the top of the list. You have to choose your local partner. OK, you need a local partner because, you know, everything in every country is different. I mean, if I want to go start the business in the US, I don't need a local partner. If I want to start the business in Belgium, I'll just go to Belgium, start the company and start operating. But doing business in Africa is a bit unique. It's a bit different. So I would think on your priority list number one, you want to enter the market, you get the local partner, you have to have a local partner, stay with them, give yourself two or three, four, five years and that, you know, if you want to continue by yourself, this is what most of the multinational start to the local partner. And then today they're 100 percent, you know, multinational owned. So you have to you have to go in. If you're going to start, you have to even with a small percentage, but you need definitely your local partner. I want to come back to the local partner discussion after Boali offers up for examples of successful companies. But so over to you, Boali. And then I'd like to come back for any insights you both have about advising a CEO about how do I pick and qualify a good local partner, as opposed to picking a local partner and then having a disastrous experience. I would say if you look at some of the multinationals that Steve spoke about, right, a lot of them, you know, have stayed in the countries or the regions that are doing business in notwithstanding the cyclical environments, right. And so, yes, sometimes you see some companies enter the market and then you have a downturn or a bit of instability and they need, right. It's not easy to reenter once things stabilize. And like every economy, you would have economies within African contexts that are cyclical, maybe have some periods of economic downturn or political instability, but you have to be able to sort of stay with the good times, the bad times and even innovate and ensure that you are innovating. And then when the opportunities come and things stabilize, it is those that are on ground and remain that will be able to reap the advantages of that. OK, so let's talk about how do I pick and how do I qualify a local partner. Steve, this is one of the things we talked about at the beginning of the conversation. How would you advise me as a CEO of a company interested in coming to Africa to identify a good local partner for me so that I don't have a lot of misfires? And are there any tricks to the trade that you would bring to the attention of a CEO? If I was a CEO in Europe or North America and wanted to come into country Europe, I would go in through the chambers of commerce. OK, I would knock on the door of the French Chamber of Commerce. I would knock on the door of the American Chamber of Commerce. I would get on the plane and get there. Usually the people that work through the chambers are reputable companies, the serious companies, the companies that are in the business. And then from there, I start to maneuver my way around. You know, I would look for the companies that are doing a similar business that I'm doing. I would stay away from government, you know, because they're only going to hear good news and give vibes, you know, good stories. I would definitely have to meet with them. But as a number one priority, I would leave them on the my last day of business, you know, I would concentrate on the chambers of commerce. Well, Alan. Yes, actually, I completely agree with that. One is the access to network that she's just spoken about, but also the access to information, right? Because, again, Africa has the perception of risk. In reality, it is much different. And so you need an entity that has credible, reliable information and can sort of be that concrete for for partnerships for information thereby sort of reducing the time to entry. All right, so let's move on to one of the things we talked about earlier, which was the tremendous potential of a young and promising workforce across the continent. What are the business skills that you each see as being prevalent in Africa that companies should be aware of? And what areas need investment by either local or foreign organizations to further develop Africa's human capital potential? And I'll let you both answer. And then I have one of my own examples I'd like to bring into the conversation. But while I want to start with you first, what are the business skills that you think today are prevalent in Africa that a company should be aware of and trying to access? So, like you said, we have a young population and they're brilliant, they're hungry for knowledge and information. Additional training is an excellent opportunity on the continent today. You have areas of technology as well. And so a lot of people may be learning trade, but may not learn it in a professional way. And so it's sort of an opportunity to upscale them and ensure that they are operating in accordance with the international best practices. And then because the population is quite young, you also have a lot of entrepreneurship. So there is an opportunity to sort of support the investments and the training of entrepreneurs in a sustainable way where you can invest in them and actually be able to help them to grow and scale their businesses. And I think another area is, you know, on the continent, you have a lot, just roughly 50 percent women. But a lot of these women fall off the educational system, the primary and secondary school education. What does it mean if you can actually keep them in the educational system to primary and secondary school and thereby obviously increasing their earning potential over the course of their lifespan? And so you need programs on the continent that work on sort of the gender equity issue when it comes to education. See, skills that you see prevalent in Africa today that companies ought to be tapping into and taking advantage of. I would think like what Wallace saying, training is very important. I mean, you do have a young population that does need training. If I'm going to start the factory, we're going to start operation in Africa. I mean, it doesn't matter if the population is already young, but they cannot, you know, not trained. So I would invest in training. I would look at the young population being workforce. I mean, but the young population alone is not the answer. There's a young population in India as well. There's a young population in South East Asia as well. There's a bit. So having a young population is not the answer to all your problems. It's a it's a plus. OK, but it doesn't mean that's the reason that I would go to do business in Africa. We had a colleague come to us on three or four years ago and said, look, I want to talk to you about data scientists and the world is in need of and demanding more data scientists across all different sectors of business. And 20 years ago, companies went to India to get software programmers and developers because the skills in India are tremendous in world class. We in Nigeria, this was a Nigerian discussion, have tremendous data scientists skills and pools of talent. We can be the contemporary equivalent to what India was for software development and programming in the fields of data science. And we can do it at a very competitive price point for the global market. It was a new thought to me. We were quite impressed with the idea. And I guess, Boali, maybe you ought to talk about this one because you operated the intersection of reality of tangible goods. The same time, information, skills and technologies. Do you see data scientists as a potential area for African human capital potential and value? Definitely, definitely. I actually am familiar with a few. Educational institutions that are training data scientists. And there is a huge pipeline of people that are currently going through the educational vocational, the training programs. You know, I think time will tell because it's one thing to train. It's another thing to place them. And so it's really when you are able to place them in jobs or when they start companies and are successful, that you have the true validation of the business model. But from where I sit, I'm really optimistic about training of young Nigerian data scientists, computer engineers, you know, and in any areas of high demand, really, where it's a technology-based business, my information-based business, that all you need is a laptop, right? And so even with that, there is a barrier to entry for some, unfortunately. But you need a laptop. You don't have to travel to get the training and you can deliver it in a cost-effective manner. Then you can sort of increase the pipeline of people coming to the program. You can train them in other software skills and you can get them jobs or you can empower them to start their own companies. Great. Well, thank you both very much. One of the major focus areas for the Center for Global Enterprise over its 10 years of existence has been Africa, both as a marketplace, but also as a management opportunity to include women into the workforce and management hierarchies as well as how to create scalable and sustainable businesses. So I will probably have future episodes about doing business in Africa and you all have been tremendously gracious to be our starting episode on this theme. But before we let you go, we always like to use the last minute or so to give our listeners one strategic insight to consider. We call it our emerging critical issues moment. So in one word or phrase, please tell us what emerging issue do you see on the horizon that business leaders need to put on their radar? You have to fasten your seatbelts, okay. The pace of business here I think is much faster with the amount of regulations, the amount of pop-ups that you get every day with everything, but you definitely need to have your seatbelts off because every day you wake up with new regulations, new systems, new currency, new interest rates, new, you know. The fluctuations are very high, but the rewards are reached for high. Sounds like you have to be a trapeze artist to succeed. Boali? I would say looking out for new markets and that comes with being innovative and seeing opportunities where there are problems. But I would say, you know, the companies that can look out for new markets and really think with that innovation in mind, but also with the adaptability in mind will do really well. And when you say new markets, you don't just mean geographic markets, you mean business markets as well? Yes, I mean actually in terms of business models. Okay, great. So finding new ways of doing things within the context of what they do and how that ties in with the market that they're looking to enter. Great, well thank you both very much. You've been listening to the get sponsored by the Center for Global Enterprise, celebrating 10 years of convening global enterprise leaders around the most important business transformation issues. Today we sit down with two leading business leaders to discuss the myths and realities of doing business in Africa and what women CEOs should know. Miranda Naiman, founder and managing partner of Empower Limited, a growth consulting company headquartered in Tanzania, and Don Liness, managing director of the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative, a 12 month applied management development program for women business owners across all 54 African countries. Miranda and Don, welcome and thank you for being with us today. As economic adjustments are taking place in the global economy, Africa has been getting more and more operational and financial attention from companies and investors around the world. And the governments of the United States and China are jockeying for advantage across the continent and for good reason. Africa is rich in diversity and natural resources. It has one of the fastest growing populations with over 1.3 billion people and that population is expected to reach 2.5 billion or 25% of the global population by 2050. This represents both a burgeoning workforce opportunity as well as an increasing customer base for businesses looking for new growth markets. For decades, the countries in Africa have been described as places companies need to invest in. However, like all geographies and countries, doing business in Africa also comes with its fair share of challenges. One is the lack of infrastructure, which can make it challenging to transport goods and services across the continent. Another is workforce skills, which are often viewed as underdeveloped. There are also different political, regulatory, and legal frameworks among the 54 countries, making it difficult for businesses to navigate. And like other regions in the world, the lack of transparency and corruption adds just another barrier to entry. In episode 15 of the Get, we discussed doing business on the continent and it was very well received by listeners. Today, we want to continue this conversation and do so using a filter of what women CEOs and business owners need to know about these myths and realities. So Miranda, perhaps we can start with you. What are some of the common misconceptions about doing business in Africa from your perspective? Thanks, Chris. It's great to be here. I appreciate being able to share perspectives. Obviously, there are lots of common misconceptions that I can think of when it comes to doing business in Africa so before you start, you obviously want to make sure that you've conducted thorough market research and understand the dynamics. That being said, I wanted to share some myths. Myth number one, that Africa is a single market. I think that's a big myth. We've got 54 countries, our own languages, cultures even within each country, different political structures and business customs. So I think that's a huge myth to dispel. Myth number two, that political instability is a significant barrier. I think it really depends on which market you're playing in. And while many African countries have struggled with this, there are many stable economies on the continent that are business friendly and have policies to support that. Myth number three, I think you touched on it a moment ago, the challenge around infrastructure being insufficient. Yet again, while it's true that some African countries struggle with infrastructural challenges, power outages and so on, there are also countries that have made significant headway here, but depends where you are setting up your business. And I would say another big myth that I often hear is there's a lack of skilled labor. I would say trends moving in the right direction where our very young continent is now able to compete globally. And I think there are a lot of initiatives and programs that are focused on youth in particular and skills development that are helping us to be more competitive as a continent. So those are the few that I would share. There are many more, of course. So Merida, thank you for that. Let me go deeper on two of the dimensions that you stated. One, political stability and two, infrastructure. Are there two or three countries that stand out for you at this moment in time where political stability and infrastructure efficiency are really in need of recognition from a global investor? I think if we're looking at infrastructure, you'd want to look at some of the bigger economies on the continent. So perhaps South Africa, Egypt, perhaps Morocco, in certain cities where you might have more developed major cities that are able to cater to business needs, perhaps high-speed internet. This could be physical infrastructure as well in terms of roads and power supply. In terms of political stability, there are many countries I can think of without any bias, Tanzania being first. Where there's never been political instability, there are many others that I can think of. Botswana, Uganda. I would also name Malawi as well amongst others where things are calm, peaceful, and present a good business environment to be able to grow. Great. So, Don, from your perspective and your experience over the last five, six, seven years with AWAC, what are the most common misconceptions about doing business in Africa that you've seen and you'd like to share? Thanks, Chris. Miranda touched on a bunch of really important ones. I think the two that I'd like to add, one is around market size. I think there's this perception, particularly coming from the Western markets, that income disparities on the continent limit the market size that's available. And a lot of this stems from mainstream media. There's two general perceptions that mainstream media often provides of the African market. You see the large portion of the population that's struggling below the poverty line and then a very small elite portion that is living large thanks to corrupt business practices. And those are obviously two very specific and not very realistic archetypes of what is happening in the African market. There's actually a huge, huge market. And as Chris noted, there's a really fast growing population, and that means that the middle class continues to grow. Now, the perception of middle class varies country to country, but thanks to urbanization increased access to education and obviously increased consumer purchasing power, that means that there's a huge market for any product. And we've seen that, particularly given the 15,000 applications we've seen for women entrepreneurs to participate in our program over the past six years, there's a significant number of women starting businesses that are finding tangible markets. So I think that's a huge misconception that people have is that they're not enough customers. The other one has to do with technology. I think there's a big misconception that Africa is grossly behind when it comes to technological advancement. And then consequently, there's this expectation that they're dependent upon the West to bring them forward. And while there are definitely differences in technology and technological advancement, there's significant innovation happening on the continent from a tech standpoint, particularly because the entrepreneurs that are solving tech challenges on the continent are solving for the actual problems they have. And there's not a one size fits all solution. So something that works either from a tech standpoint or a business model standpoint in the West might not necessarily be the best solution on the African continent or even from country to country. And so given the diversity of the markets of Africa and the low barriers to entry, there are a lot of different companies that are working on solutions that we may not be aware of. And so I think particularly for business owners coming into the African market for the first time, it's really important to understand what's going on on the ground in the specific market that you're trying to enter because there's probably a lot of solutions that rival what you're interested in doing or working on that might be interesting to look into. So that's great. And you two are well positioned to give our listeners the real scoop of what's happening on the ground. And I'd like to turn now to the decision-making process of a CEO. I know Miranda, you as a growth company, a growth consulting company, you're advising CEOs about how to either adapt their business model or move into new areas. And I want to draw a distinction between the general advice you each would give a CEO interested in entering the African market and maybe what are the two most important factors any business leader must consider. But more importantly, especially for this episode, I'd like to talk about from your perspective, are these recommendations different for women CEOs? And if so, how? And maybe they're not, but I'd like to get your point of view on this. And Miranda, maybe we can start with you. Sure. I think there are cross-cutting things that both men and women would need to take into consideration if they're looking to set up a business on the continent. There are many things that you need to look at. I would pull out two key things. Number one is cultural understanding. Africa is diverse, as I said before, numerous cultures, languages, but most importantly, the societal norms. And I think that will really help to inform how you run your business on the continent. When you understand that local culture, it's paramount. That's going to be the key to your success in whatever country you choose to set up your business. The way people communicate, the way your meeting rhythm might be within the business, how you negotiate with suppliers, how you navigate your competitors as well and read different relationships is really, really important when setting up your business. And when it comes to now hiring people into your business, learning the ways that people work, particularly youth that come into the business, young people, it's really important for building that trustful relationship with both local partners, consumers, and your staff as well. I think the second thing that I would touch on would be the regulatory environment, which are all unique yet again across the 54 territories and countries and different legal frameworks that are going to govern how you are able to run your business in those environments. So understanding the regulatory environment is crucial, especially when you are entering the market. In my experience, I've seen many organizations that haven't survived in new markets because they have been ignorant to some of the requirements when setting up their business. So making sure that you're conversant with tax regulations, labor law, any kind of import or export regulations, making sure you're fully compliant as a business is really critical, I would say. Well, with regards to women, these things obviously apply to both men and women, but I would say on the cultural understanding as a woman in business, understanding how women are viewed in society and how you can navigate different spaces is key. So I would put it under that first umbrella of cultural understanding. Great. Don, thoughts? I completely agree with Brenda. I think the first thing that I had noted for myself is this idea that Brenda touched on earlier and that I think also came up in the first conversation around doing business in Africa on the get about Africa being 54 unique countries and within those obviously the unique cultures. The piece that I'll dive a little deeper on is I think this idea of the ease of doing business for women differs country to country. And what it might say on paper and what the laws might say might look different in reality. And so I think this goes back to the other point Miranda made around having partners on the ground, having somebody that you can trust who can give you the inside scoop as to how things really work is incredibly important. And one of my first go-to is to understand each market from a gender lens is the World Bank. They have great data that they publish each year on the ease of doing business for women and that's a global resource. And that's the general understanding that we use to really get this first look at which laws are in favor of supporting women. What does it look like from a cultural, from a socioeconomic standpoint for women? And I think that helps that first understanding and then being able to talk to someone who's doing business in that space, but not just one person because the gender piece is layered with the socioeconomic aspect as well. And so where you are in society plays another role. I think in any new market that you're entering into, having people that you trust is incredibly helpful and we've seen that when we host events on the content. If we're doing this based out of the US, having team members who are on the ground can help us really understand the different relationships, the different ways that people negotiate, the different styles of doing business. I think a lot of times women have different levels of the ability to be direct and have that be well received. And so if you are a woman who benefits from being able to speak directly and then you go into an environment where that's not well received, you're not necessarily knowing, you don't understand that everyone else is in that same situation. And so you might think that you're getting clear information from someone. You might think that someone is answering the question that they're giving you the rates they can, but ultimately you find out that they are trying to appease you because they need to put a certain perception forward in terms of what being a female business owner looks like. And so I think that's something that's really important to know and that nuance doesn't come through unless you speak to somebody who's actually has that experience of doing business. I think the other one that is really important is understanding around hiring and understanding around the workforce. Miranda noted that the workforce is growing and there's a huge, huge opportunity there. I think that the thing that we've noticed in particular is that there's an importance that's placed on credentials on the continent, more so maybe than other places around the world. And so a lot of times somebody will apply to a job, and this happens for women globally, but particularly on the continent, people believe they need to have direct experience for a job and they will not apply if their specific credentials and their specific experience doesn't match the job at hand. Whereas I think in the U.S. in particular, we've seen a lot more people applying because they feel like they have the ability to learn the job. And so what that means for a business owner is that thinking outside of the box when hiring means that you have the opportunity to really open yourself up to a much wider potential of candidates, group of candidates, and then more than that, thinking about how you train and support those candidates and the idea that just telling somebody, this is your job and expecting them to excel does not work. You know, we're in an age where really having to think about not just telling people what to do, but training them on how to do it will help for the long-term growth of your company. One of the biggest things that the entrepreneurs we work with cite as challenges is hiring. But ultimately, I don't think hiring is the challenge so much as training staff in a way that helps them to grow and want to stay within the company that they're working at. That's great. And Don, you have led an applied management development program that has touched the lives of over 1,000 women over the last couple of years. And those 1,200 women come from every country on the continent. So you have a unique perspective and experience about what you see among women business owners as strengths and where there might be gaps that need attention. Maybe you could talk a little bit about the skills, strengths, and weaknesses that you've seen with women entrepreneurs. And then Miranda, I'd love your thoughts on this as well, because you're dealing so frequently with companies and trying to help them move from small to big. Sure. So I think the number one, which probably will not come as a surprise to any woman entrepreneur or business leader, is resilience. I think women in particular really have to be resilient to run their businesses given the many competing priorities they have. When I layer in the African perspective, I think that today, post-pandemic, business leaders are used to having to deal with a significantly increased set of macro and microeconomic challenges. However, many of these challenges were prevalent for African business owners pre-pandemic. And so having to deal with inflation, currency and stability, supply chain disruptions, energy access, even global health issues, these are not new issues in Africa. And so women business owners have been starting and succeeding in their businesses in the face of these challenges far longer than most of us in the West have had to deal with them. I think additionally, we see that women are still even more likely to start businesses in Africa than men. And so all of that boils down to this fact that women have this passion that they're committed to seeing through despite any challenge that they're up against, which I think is incredibly inspiring and something that we've really enjoyed about the work that we've done with women entrepreneurs. The second one I would say is appetite for learning personal growth and innovation. And I say that because a lot of times as a woman business owner, you end up being really focused on managing the day-to-day operations of your business. And so you're really focused on working in the business, not on the business. We've seen with the women entrepreneurs that we've both had the privilege of working with and the many that have applied for our program and the many other wonderful programs that exist on the continent. There's a deep appreciation and desire to continue education for African women business owners. And we see that just not only in the way that they apply but the way that they got the way that they apply to the program but the way they apply themselves in the program. And women come into the program really, really eager to grow certain aspects of their business and they take advantage of those opportunities in a way that I think particularly if I look at my friends and colleagues in the US who are deeply focused on running their businesses, it's much harder for them to make time and prioritize that continued learning. So I think that's a huge asset that I see. Great, Miranda, thoughts? I think that's a very robust list. I would add to that that African women particularly entrepreneurs are very well-networked and this is part of our culture really. You know, you have savings groups where you all put in money where we try to grow together and I think that is a huge part of our fiber and our being. And I definitely see that in AWECK as well in the African Women's Entrepreneurship Cooperative and the various cohorts. You can very much see strong personal brands, strong relationships amongst the women, very well-networked and this helps them to perhaps leverage business ties in the other markets as well and be able to support one another to grow. So I would add that as well. And of course energy, the resilience is built on by the energy. You have to have the right kind of energy that you're bringing into your business, infuse it into the work, the product or the service that you're providing but also into every employee that you have on your payroll to make sure that they are also performing and delivering to a high standard. So I think these are all things that are prevalent on the continent particularly amongst women entrepreneurs on the continent at the moment. So I'd like to pull back a little bit now and talk about talent at the macro level. And Miranda, you've been in the talent business for quite some time and as you consult with companies about how to grow, clearly they won't be successful if they don't have the available talent or have the wrong talent. What can you tell us about the talent pool across the continent and are there certain regions better known for certain skills? Absolutely. I mean it's already been said Africa obviously has a young, very fast growing and increasingly educated population and that represents a significant talent pool. So if we really put that into context by 2030, Africa is going to have the world's largest workforce and that's going to surpass China and India. So it's really huge. We've also got the rising middle class that Dawn spoke to earlier and increased urbanization. But if I'm looking at different regions and countries, some that I would pick out, if we look at for instance, technology and innovation, I would cite perhaps Kenya and Nigeria even at our general assembly earlier this year, we heard about Silicon Savannah in Nairobi being a hub. It's renowned for technology startups. I would say a similar picture in Lagos, Nigeria as well. There's a very thriving tech ecosystem. I would add to that that in South Africa, particularly in Johannesburg and Cape Town, there are also significant players in the tech industry. If we look at more finance and business services, of course Johannesburg has the largest stock exchange, one of the largest in the world, the largest on the continent. And they are very much known for their banking and financial services, investment skills. Looking at East Africa and some parts of West Africa, more agricultural skills or agribusiness. Maybe I could cite Ethiopia, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire as well as areas where there are professionals that are skilled in agriculture and agribusiness, as this is prominent in these areas. I would say for manufacturing, perhaps markets like Egypt, Morocco yet again, very strong manufacturing sectors with very skilled labor, particularly in automotive manufacturing, textiles and some electronics as well. We're seeing this rise around mining and also natural resources. So some of the old school players there, Botswana, Zambia, the DRC. But we're also seeing some markets, for instance Tanzania, where natural gas has been found and so there are new skills that are being fostered in these kinds of markets. I think tourism, hospitality, these are also skills that you can find in a lot of African countries. The list goes on. I think despite these strengths though, there are still skills gaps and it's about how we can make sure that the future generation is ready to embrace all the opportunities that we have. But I think with the rise of online education and of course growing investment in educational infrastructure, our talent pool will be poised to grow and to diversify. So maybe I could ask each of you a follow-on question in this regard, which is, so a company choosing to expand or to enter the African marketplace and knows that they will have an available workforce that will need some training and some skill development. Should they expect to do that training and skill development themselves or should they expect to have partners in doing that from the public education or educational infrastructure? Or is it a combination of both? And Todd, from your experience, maybe you could talk to that. It's if I'm going to invest, do I know that I have to build into my business model the training and this upskilling of my new workforce myself or are partners readily available and how would I identify partners if I chose to go in that direction? Yeah, that's a great question. So I would say it's definitely a combination of both and I think it depends on both the company's capabilities and what they're interested in achieving. There are a lot of companies on the ground that have skilled expertise in running trainings, whether it be in person and online. Many of them benefit from partnerships already. And so we see a lot of partnerships where governments are partnering with either for-profit or non-profit institutions to run trainings. We serve corporations that are partnering with governments, with nonprofits. And so I think it really depends on what you're looking for as far as training goes. There's a lot of really strong leadership, business, management trainings. And I think when you're looking for a partner there, the question then comes down to what are the core mission of the organization you're partnering with and is it really related to that skill growth and development or is it really focused on just getting a credential and moving on? And I think given the appetite for credentials, there are a lot of organizations that exist that are very good at providing that credential, but then people don't necessarily walk away with the actual skill. So my very biased people and I would look for something that has a really strong focus on applied learning. So how are people not just seeing, hearing what to do, but actually testing it out. So when they come away from that program, they come away with a portfolio of work that demonstrates their ability to do the different skills that you're working on. I think that if you're looking for something really specific and tangible, it would make sense to see what exists on the market already. See if there's a company that's doing a really good job and see if a partnership makes sense. I think there's a lot of partnership happening on the continent for this purpose. Not because a company can't provide it themselves, but as Miranda mentioned, they see it's a very networked country. People see the benefit of having those really strong relationships. And so there's a deep, deep benefit for both the company that's looking for that training and for the fellows that are trying to get trained. So let's look forward. I'm going to ask you each to look over the next five years. And are there a few particular business sectors that you see really taking off across the continent over the next five years, that women will lead in? And Miranda, maybe we could start with you. Sure. I'm going to start with education and training. I think that is an area where women are certainly leading on the continent. It's a key sector. And there are a lot of women in leadership roles in this area. So I'm hoping that's going to be something that we continue to push forward. I would say renewable energy is also an area where women are heavily involved. Obviously, as Africa moves towards sustainable development, this sector, the renewable energy sector is growing. Women are playing a role in this sector, particularly in businesses that are focused on distributing solar panels. So we see a lot of these businesses that help, perhaps smaller players or smallholder farmers, perhaps in rural areas to be able to access small amounts of energy. Fashion and beauty, I think has always been a leading sector. And when we look at some of our cohorts at AWEC as well, you know, the African fashion and beauty industry is just booming right now. And we see women at the forefront of this growth. So that's certainly an area to keep our eye on. But I would also mention health care, so private health care, looking at that sector and what opportunities there may be for women in leadership there, health tech or insurance around health insurance tech as well and health care services and being able to distribute pharmaceuticals to rural areas. I've seen quite a few exciting businesses there on the horizon and I feel that women are well poised to be able to lead in this area. Dawn, sectors where you see women leading over the next five years? Yeah, so I'll echo to Miranda's and dive a little bit deeper. I think in terms of the health care side, I was thinking health tech and then particularly the STEM tech as they're calling it, which is the female focused health care piece for many years, women's health issues have been overlooked globally and considered taboo to discuss in a lot of situations. We see that this is changing in the U.S. And there's definitely been an emergence of women founded health tech companies that are addressing problems that women specifically face, whether it be mental health, menstrual health, fertility, menopause, etc. And what I've really enjoyed seeing is over the past six years we've seen an increase in the number of companies that are African women founders are starting as well related to those specific areas. And so there's been more women in both in our applicant pool and that have gone through our cohorts and that are publicly talking about these challenges and trying to find solutions. So I think this will continue across the continent. The other one that I want to dive a little deeper into is the climate piece. I think we're going to use folks specifically about renewable energy. I'd like to take that maybe a little broader and talk about climate resilience and the green economy in general. We've seen a lot of businesses that are focused on providing innovative solutions to pollution, recycling, deforestation, drought and food security within our community. Now what's interesting is some of these come in as agriculture companies or as food production companies. But then when you see the innovative ways that they're approaching these things, you realize that it's not singularly focused on that industry, but rather it's more solutions based. And so I think given, you know, the challenge of the size of the population and the growing challenge that climate change presents, I think that women entrepreneurs are uniquely positioned to solve that from a number of different industry perspectives. Very interesting. So before we close, we like to use the last minute or so to give our listeners one strategic insight to consider. We call it our emerging critical issues moment. And I'm asking each of you to give me one word or one phrase of what issue, emerging issue you see on the horizon that business leaders need to put on their radar. Miranda, why don't we start with you? That was a tough one, one word or one phrase, but mine would be demographic shift. So embracing the youth bulge on the continent and really thinking about how we need to adjust our businesses to cater to this younger generation, their needs, their aspirations and how the way they work differs significantly from previous generations. I think we need to have our eye on the ball here. Don. I would say integrated social responsibility and sustainability. Building off of the idea of education, there's this responsibility of the businesses and the business leaders to train the workforce to think about the long term sustainability from a climate standpoint, from a talent standpoint. And so instead of a business just focused on how can my business succeed? Rather, how can we help the continent move forward as a whole? Well, that's great. And we will come back to some of these issues and future shows and Miranda and Don. Thank you very much for your time and insights today. It's been great having you. You've been listening to The Get sponsored by the Center for Global Enterprise, celebrating 10 years of convening global enterprise leaders around the most important business transformation issues.