Africa? Why Bother?

With over 50 countries within the African continent, is it any wonder that leaders have problems when it comes to dealing with all the diversity? Countries within Africa are diverse in culture, wealth, natural resources and people. According to worldmeters.info, the top four countries (Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, & DR Congo) contain greater than 80,000 people in each country as of 2018. And what is interesting here is that these countries are not in the same geographic region within Africa. Nigeria is in western Africa, Ethiopia in Eastern Africa, Egypt in the North and the Congo in the middle of Africa.
Diversity abounds within Africa. In a comparison between the Gross National Product (GDP) rich countries of Africa to the United States with respect to Hofstedes’ six dimensions of national culture, it is easy to see the diversity. With Nigeria aligning most closely with the United States in Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and indulgence, it would be easy to think that this is the best suited country for United States business leaders to target. This may not be the best utilization of factors with which to draw this conclusion.

In understanding Hostede’s six dimensions a leader needs to evaluate these against their own country’s dimensions. In doing so, leaders can better understand what impacts the culture may have on their ability to conduct profitable business. Leaders that take the tact of targeting a region or country to exploit the business opportunities and do not account for the culture could be setting themselves up for conflict or even failure.
Back to the comparison, when only looking at the six dimensions, could indulgence alone be enough of a factor to deter a leader from looking at Egypt as a viable business partner? Hostede defines indulgence as “the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses” (Hofstede, 2018) To illustrate the difference here, the explanation provided about Egypt’s score of 4 is that “People with this orientation have the perception that their actions are restrained by social norms and feel that indulging themselves is somewhat wrong.” (Hofstede, 2018)
The United States scores 68 in indulgence which lends itself to giving into impulses and an inability to control their desires. Given the disparity between Egypt and the United States on indulgence, a United States business leader needs to take this cultural difference into account. The negative impact that this one cultural difference could have on a business relationship could produce failure. This in and of itself though should not be the sole factor that deters a US leader from doing business with Egypt. If a leader can take this difference into account and use it to their advantage, this dimension could prove to be a non-factor. If not, United States business leaders can look to other countries to take the lead and reap profits from African nations.
In choosing indulgence for the illustration, is only to demonstrate the need for leaders to account for cultural differences when determining where to consider doing business. I truly believe that other dimensions here would prove just at valuable examples as indulgence. Power Distance and Individualism are other great examples of the need for United States business leaders to be cognizant of cultural differences and the potential effects on business partnerships with African countries.

References:

Countries in Africa:. (2018). Retrieved November 7, 2018, from http://www.worldometers.info/geography/how-many-countries-in-africa/
Country Comparison. (2018). Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/
GDP (current US$). (2018). Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?view=map
Korea gives priority areas to fast track Africa’s industrialization. (2018, May 23). Retrieved November 11, 2018, from https://www.von.gov.ng/korea-gives-priority-areas-to-fast-track-africas-industrialization/