Successful Entrepreneurs in Africa

Compiled by David S. Fick

Introduction

Entrepreneurs organize and direct business undertakings. They assume the risk for the sake of the profit. Success often depends upon how skilled, innovative and passionate the entrepreneur is about his ideas and dreams. We will begin with an overall discussion of entrepreneurship in Africa. We will continue with case studies of thirty entrepreneurs (six for each of Africa's five regions). In conclusion, we will talk about the future of Africa.

The African Continent 

Nathaniel H. Bowditch in his book, "The Last Emerging Market" (1999), arrives at five thought provoking conclusions:

(1) African countries should organize peoples' development and vision plans now! There must be a real vision for the future concerning potential markets and niches that may be particularly appropriate to Africa. There must be a serious partnership between government and business (p.179).

(2) Regional markets should be created now! Bowditch believes one could comprise Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo. This must be done since the mainstream international business community will not seriously consider major investments anywhere unless there are sufficiently large consumer markets that are easily and freely reached (p.180). The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is Africa's most developed trading bloc. However, according to The East African (Nairobi, September 15, 2000), by 2004, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda should be operating a uniform tariff regime, turning the East African Community (EAC) into a zero-tariff area and subject to common tariffs in dealing with non-community members. Thereby the EAC, being geographically smaller then the SADC, stands a better chance of moving ahead of the SADC into a fully operational Customs Union.

(3) Workforce and business management training initiatives should be launched now! Beyond universal compulsory education programs, African institutions must be prepared in the specific business and technology skills suited to the new millenium market niches that each African country's vision and development strategy plan must identify (p.181). Dependable legal mechanisms must be established to effectively adjudicate commercial disputes, otherwise, efforts to attract investors into Africa will always be met with a healthy dose of skepticism ("Swimming Upstream," by K. D. Fordwor).

(4) Overseas Africans must be brought home now! Returnee entrepreneurs have the potential to make major contributions. They have earned degrees, developed skills, gained experience, and have created sizeable savings. They are members of the African family and must be attracted back to their home countries in significant numbers (p.183).
Nigerian born Phillip Emeagwali, at a symposium in Alabama in 1999, confirms that in today's world, knowledge creates wealth, however, one in three graduates of African universities live and work outside Africa. Unfortunately for Africa, one million African professionals are working outside Africa. At the same time, Africa spends money on the salary of 100,000 foreign experts. Yet, African nations are unwilling to spend a similar amount of money to recruit from the one million African professionals working outside Africa. Africa must offer meaningful employment and compensation to entice overseas Africans to return home.

If African professionals won't move back, maybe many will donate their time like Dr. Tadios Amare, a Kaiser Permanente physician, who donated over a month of his own time to help launch a system of windmills aimed at offering children in his native Ethiopia a chance at better health. In much of Ethiopia, the water table is not very deep and the wind conditions are favorable for windmill driven well pumps. Hopefully, people will drink less contaminated surface water and lessen the eighty-percent of illnesses that arise from contaminated water. One quarter of a million Ethiopian children die annually from water-borne disease (Ethiopian News June 21, 1997, www.ethio.com).

(5) Newly developed countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh, Bowditch suggests could teach much to African countries and should be invited to share their technology now! In this regard, it is interesting to note that David Dichter (tftp@atge.automail.com), the director and founder of the Technology for the People organization in Geneva, Switzerland, wrote in the International Tribune on Friday, August 18, 2000 that "Asia Can Boost African Start-ups." He proposes the transfer of production technologies and the relevant managerial know-how to African partner firms on commercial terms from partner enterprises in the rapidly industrializing countries of South and Southeast Asia. Such transfers he believes could be the wave of the future and give practical substance and meaning to the UN concept of economic cooperation among developing countries. African entrepreneurs must be willing to negotiate joint venture or other types of cooperative arrangements with their world counterparts. David Dichter believes labor-intensive technologies are much more suitable to Africa's needs and much more affordable within their modest investment budgets. The technical and managerial support staff available from Asia can adapt themselves more easily to African circumstances and demand less in terms of fees and working conditions for their services.

Keith Marsden in his book, "African Entrepreneurs" (1990), confirms that foreign enterprises provide highly valued assistance to African entrepreneurs, as suppliers of machinery, materials, and professional services, as distributors of their products, and as technical, sales, or equity partners in their businesses. The relationship between foreign and African enterprises is often complementary, not just competitive. He also shows that market networks, composed of African firms of varying sizes and ownership structures engaged in complementary, mutually supportive, activities, serve as vital mechanisms for the diffusion of information and expertise among the members of their networks (p. 21). 

E.F. Schumacher in his book, "Small is Beautiful"(1973), suggests that first the real needs of the local African communities should be determined and then the degree of technological solutions offered should be in tune with local resources, means and culture. Ernesto Sirolli (sirolli@visi.com) (www.sirolli.com) in his book, "Ripples in the Zambezi"(1999), builds on Schumacher's ideas by advocating enterprise facilitation as a powerful social technology that helps communities create economic diversity and sustainability that is people-centered and locally controlled. It enpowers people to achieve their personal dreams and aspirations. He does not force economic development on people who don't want to be developed according to someone else's ideas. Dr. Sirolli challenges us to listen, keep it simple, and then do whatever it takes to make sure the entrepreneur has a strong team in place (p. 156).

Dr. Sirolli would probably tell us that there are people in African cities, towns and villages who individually or as a group have the passion to create products, goods, new markets, and quality services. Who, if believed and encouraged, could become a vibrant contribution to the African economy, providing diversity of employment and renewed hope for the cities, towns and rural villages of Africa. African countries will achieve better economic performance when they get more and better people involved in creating wealth. The collective quality of the African people will make Africa prosper. Equitable laws must create the foundations for: peaceful social interactions, tolerance and freedom; collective care for the young, the aged, the infirm; respect for the environment; and inalienable personal rights to growth, self-fulfillment, and happiness.

Dr. Sirolli would probably advocate the development of supportive African societies and of constitutions that would provide for the electoral defeat of governments of corruption and stifling bureaucracies. African societies must recognize the intrinsic value of individual, cooperative, social, and commercial enterprises and facilitate the transformation of good ideas into rewarding work (p 111). Dr. Sirolli is an advocate of a civic economic system, which enhances participation in the creation of wealth. Civic economy can be defined as the economy resulting from generalized reciprocity, from people helping people to succeed, with the understanding that the well-being of each member of the community is to everybody's advantage (p.143).

Anita Spring (aspring@ufl.edu) and Barbara E. McDade, editors of the book, "African Entrepreneurship"(1998), point out that African entrepreneurs secure and train personnel through apprenticeships, tutelage arrangements, family members and acquaintances. They raise start-up and operating capital from community resources such as rotating credit systems involving social groups. For example, in central Ethiopia, when villagers need to invest a little money in their business, they turn to their credit group, small artisans like themselves. African entrepreneurs choose to diversify their investments. They believe to own several types of businesses guards against risks that are common in the economic climates of many African cultures. Scarcity of both working capital and foreign exchange hold back the expansion of many African enterprises. Stifling bureaucracy and corrupt governments often outweigh opportunities. In the fall of 2000, Dr. Spring and Dr. McDade were in Africa doing research on the new generation of African entrepreneurship. Hopefully this will lead to another book.

West Africa: Burkina Faso, Coite d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, etc.

Karl Maier in his book, "Into the House of the Ancestors"(1998), introduces us to Seni Williams (seni.williams@metrong.com) who works in the complex world of silicon chips, megabytes, and microprocessors in the giant West African nation of Nigeria, as head of Tara Systems Limited. Tara has a cooperation agreement with the California-based Oracle Corporation, second biggest software company in the world. Tara also produces a system called Auto Bank that allows banks to dynamically create their own accounts. This allows the banks to tailor their products much more closely to their customers. Tara's goal is to have its banking system running in every single branch in every single bank in Africa (p. 22-26).

In 1988, Yaw Akrasi took the major step of setting up his own "chop bar" - The Country Kitchen Restaurant - whose specialty of serving the very best in Ghanaian cuisine has made it a major tourist spot and rendezvous for Ghanaians. Yaw Akrasi also has two other restaurants in Accra, one at the famous La Beach and the other at the National Theatre. Through his pioneering role in modernizing the chop bar concept, Yaw Akrasi has joined the rare breed of university graduates who are raising traditional ways of doing business to higher scales and in the process, helping boost the tourist industry. His aim is to ensure that Ghanaian dishes or cuisine will find the same respectability and popularity of other African countries enjoy (www.africaonline.com).

Ms. Lucia Quachey of Ghana began her business career in 1969, making ready to wear apparel out of her home and now owns a clothing factory. Today her success inspires others. She has combined marriage, business, motherhood and activism as the president of the Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs and the Secretary General of the African Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (AFWE). She conducted a survey to discover that learning the basics of business would help many rural women out of poverty. AFWE held the first all Africa, Europe and North America Women's trade fair in Accra in June 1996, bringing together women entrepreneurs to network, invest in each other's businesses and exchange technology.

Ghanaian Irene Dufu registered her fishing company, Cactus Enterprise Ltd., in Tema, Ghana in 1978. She had commenced operations on an informal basis two years earlier. She started with a small wooden vessel, a crew of 12 and 3 office workers, including the entrepreneur herself. Twelve years later, she was employing 65 fishermen on three boats, including a 350ton deep-sea trawler and an 80ton tuna vessel, and 12 sales and administrative staff. The tuna ship allowed Mrs. Dufu to break into the market for canned tuna by supplying the U.S. Starkist company, which has canning operations in Ghana. In the 1990's, she planned to buy a new shrimper with refrigeration on board. Mrs. Dufu enjoys challenges and relishes her achievements. She is pleased to be able to provide regular employment for Ghanaian fishermen and to add to her country's foreign exchange earnings (Keith Marsden, "African Entrepreneurs," p 23-25).

Mr. Saliou N'Dione is the director general and principal shareholder of Pechazur SA (www.pechazur.com), one of West Africa's largest exporters of wild sea products fished in the pollution-free sea near Cote d'Ivoire. It also imports large quantities of frozen fish for sale on the local market. Pechazur has over 100 full-time employees and hires up to 500 daily workers for the decorticating, cleaning, fileting and packaging of the fish, lobster and shrimp after they have been brought ashore by suppliers. Pechazur collaborates closely with 2000 local fishermen who are grouped into cooperatives based at different villages along the coast. It continuously develops its sources of supply and its storage, processing, cooking and packaging facilities. Its French office in Marseille is staffed with French sales representatives who sell directly to good class restaurants and supermarkets under the Pechazur brand name. Expansion and modernization projects have enabled Pechazur to expand output, lower processing costs, maintain consistent quality standards, diversify sales to other European countries and increase profitability. Its main concern is to be attentive to the market evolution and adapt its marketing approaches to always satisfy its clientele's needs (Keith Marsden, "African Entrepreneurs," p 39-40). 

Southern Africa: Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, etc 

Thembeka Nkamba-Van Wyk has a mission - she wants to help people regain their pride in being African. She is Africanising South Africa's corporate world. In 1997, she founded her business Talking Beads, which supplies corporate and individual gifts, decorates corporate and government offices in African motifs, does authentic African decor for functions, provides dance groups to create atmosphere at events and hires out African clothing. She also trains women in bead craft and offers training in African-orientated computer design. She started Talking Beads as a means for people to earn a living, particularly in the rural areas. Her company has grown within four years to an international business that has created opportunities for 6000 people. She also gives workshops and presentations at schools on African life and culture - targeting predominantly white schools to help children break stereotypes. Because history has portrayed African traditions as backward, she believes there is a need to rekindle pride in being African. For her many accomplishments, Nkamba-Van Wyk was recognized as South Africa's Businesswoman of the Year for 2000 (Weekly Mail & Guardian, August 6, 1999, www.mg.co.za).

Karl Maier introduced his readers to Joram Mariga, who started stone carving in 1958 after he found a little piece of steatite in the Nyanga Mountains of present day Zimbabwe. Later he met the first director of the new National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe, Frank McEwen (http://landow.stg.brown.edu/post/zimbabwe/art/sculptureov.html), who bought one of his little sculptures. This was the beginning of contemporary stone sculpture in Zimbabwe. Joram Mariga founded a stone-sculpting school and taught relatives and friends in carving stones. Some early students eventually became master sculptors whose stone sculptures attracted the attention of the international art community. Exhibitions of the sculptures have toured major world capitals, and even though some of the best sculptors are illiterate and work in their bare feet, some of them have become fabulously wealthy. Pieces can fetch up to $50,000 on the world market ("Into the House of the Ancestors" p.12-19).

Texans, Britt and Cardo Kleberg (oakleberg@stic.net) of Wilderness Safaris, managed the Duba Plains Camp, one of the most remote camps in the Okavango Delta on the north-east edge of the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana. The camp is situated on an island shaded by large ebony, fig and garcinia trees and surrounded by expansive flood plains. This pristine area is home to lion, leopard, lechwe, elephant and Cape buffalo. Day and night game drives in open 4X4 vehicles, mokoro excursions and walking safaris are featured at this camp that brings welcome foreign exchange to Botswana. In December 2000, the Klebergs returned to Texas for the purpose of making speaking appearances throughout Texas promoting Botswana's Okavango Delta for Wilderness Safaris and Botswana.

South African school dropout, Hylton Laggar, founder of a national motor workshop chain, started as a newly qualified motor mechanic working for a large motor group. When he became aware of the inefficiencies in workshop management, he set up a tiny workshop called EFI Motors in 1982. Over the next ten years, Mr. Laggar established 12 franchised dealers and a growing relationship with Shell SA. In 1998, Shell was looking for business opportunities. Capitalizing on their close relationship, Shell bought EFI and Shell Auto Care was born. As managing director, Mr. Laggar was put in charge of expansion plans to open 180 franchised workshops (each to be known as The Garage) in South Africa and neighboring states, creating 2000 job opportunities. The Garage is pitched as a special, affordable workshop targeted at owners of vehicles between four and eight years old. Shell plans to move closer to the customer and to improve the perception of the automobile business. As of October 2000, there are 29 Garages opened (www.sundaytimes.co.za), however, Mr. Laggar has left "The Garage." He has purchased a large factory that was in liquidation and that manufactures automotive exhaust systems. He is reconstructing the business and setting it on an export focused path. "Raptor Exhausts" employs 65 people, most of who were previously unemployed. The company is now exporting to all over the world and the business is experiencing fantastic growth. Being a winner takes total commitment and Mr. Laggar believes he will succeed and become a world player. In October 2000, he exhibited at the SEMA automotive show in Las Vegas (raptorx@eastcoast.co.za).

When Selma Baldi first moved to a rural village on the Kwa Zulu-Natal South African coast, she was so shocked by the levels of poverty under which most local women lived that she set up a small manufacturing business to help them feed their families. Baldi recruited five women for training. Having taken courses in pattern making and dressmaking, she began a small school to train the women. They then began manufacturing clothes in a small storeroom. Baldi used the profits from the first order to finance the school and move into the sleeping-bag business. Today the sleeping bag manufacturing business has more than 65 full-time employees, all women. Baldi has a close relationship with the women and pays them according to the number of sleeping bags they make. Her company, Bare Bags, is now one of the largest manufacturers of sleeping bags in South Africa and supplies most outdoor and sporting outlets. Bare Bags makes over 2000 items a month (www.sundaytimes.co.za).

Ivan Epstein (iepstein@softline.co.za) founded Softline (www.softline.co.za) in 1988 with a small bank loan of US $700 and two people as a value added reseller of financial software, but the three quickly saw the gap for good, locally developed and user-friendly accounting software for emerging businesses. Today Softline is South Africa's biggest accounting software vendor. It is Australia's second biggest as well as the second largest accounting software company in Canada. It is building market share in the US and the UK. Softline currently sells its software applications into 38 countries around the world and has the products translated into currently eight languages. Softline owns and controls 60% of USA, Amex listed, SVI Holdings headquartered out of San Diego, California. Today Softline has in excess of 320,000 businesses around the world utilizing their software applications, approximately 4.7 million users. Epstein's achievements were given the ultimate accolade in 1999 when he scooped South Africa's Best Entrepreneur Award from a formidable field of finalists. Fellow finalists were Mel Davies (Scientific Group), Michael van Stratten (Verimark), Harish Mehta (Universal Web), Ronnie Apeter (The Internet Solution), Beulah Bonugli (Union Finance) and Ernie Joubert (Global Resorts). Epstein's advice for up-and-coming entrepreneurs is short and to the point: "Persevere. Focus. Take the gap" (www.sabe.co.za).

On the community service front, Softline together with the inspiration of Nelson Mandela funded an HIV clinic, named "Softline Centre" at the Saint Aidens Mission Hospital in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. This clinic was officiated by Nelson Mandela and Ivan Epstein on October 11, 2000.

Rob Marsh, author of a book on South African entrepreneurs, writes and speaks on a wide variety of topics. However, his forte is books and articles with a criminal element. His most recent book, "With Criminal Intent: The Changing Face of Crime in South Africa," was published in 1999. The book provides both a detailed examination of the crime situation in South Africa and a prognosis for the future. 

Mr. Marsh has brought to my attention that no where in this paper have I made reference to the AIDS pandemic. He points out that a number of books and papers are coming out that are examining the economic impact of this disease in sub-Saharan Africa and that the prognosis is bad. The socioeconomic effects of this disease are predicted to be extremely far reaching. Average life expectancy in South Africa is estimated to have fallen from 61 in 1990 to 57 in 2000 and is likely to fall to about 49 by 2010. Mr. Marsh asserts that the people who are dying are the most economically active. He believes the consequences for South Africa's - and sub-Saharan Africa's - economy are mind-boggling. Some estimates, for example, predict that South Africa's economy may actually shrink by up to ten percent by 2010. Absenteeism (as a result of sickness) and the cost implications for the health care service are also areas of major concern.

Mr. Marsh is currently putting together a 45-part radio soap opera for an organization called Soul City. The Soul City series will attempt to address a number of social issues in an interesting and informative manner. The point is, in this series Soul City is looking at how to care for people with HIV/AIDS. In other words, Soul City has already gone past the "Wear a condom/How not to get the disease" stage. It is now looking at providing practical and effective advice about what to do about the dead and the dying. Believe Mr. Marsh when he says, "This is scary stuff" (robmarsh@icon.co.za). 

East Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, etc. 

The late Yeshimebet Tessema (1942-2000) was the founder and president of the Ethiopian Women Entrepreneurs Association (EWEA). She embarked on a modest business venture in 1970 by exporting roasted and grounded Ethiopian coffee known as "yeshi buna" (Yeshi's coffee, in the local language) mainly to Frankfurt and New York City through the outlets of her business acquaintances. Being an astute entrepreneur, her coffee business eventually grew into a respectable export concern. This enabled her to set up numerous enterprises including a multi-million dollar hotel and entertainment complex in the town of Moyale. Moyale is some 770 kilometers southeast of Addis Ababa on the Ethiopian-Kenyan border on the main road from Ethiopia to Mombasa (Addis Tribune, August 18, 2000, www.ethio.com).

Sara Abera is one of the foremost names in Ethiopian fashion. In 1989 she opened her own design shop and manufacturing company. Since 1989 Sara Garment Designers have been producing high quality garments for a wide selection of clients. Their product line ranges from traditional Ethiopian designs to the latest in international high fashion concepts. The company has established a solid reputation for producing quality uniforms for a wide range of clientele including Ethiopian Airlines, as well as school uniforms for Addis Ababa schools. Today, approximately seventy percent of Sara Garments products are exported (www.wube.net/cloth.html).

At the turn of the Millenium, there is one person who has done more than any other individual to put Ethiopia's capital city of Addis Ababa on the world map. That man is Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amoudi. On Millenium night, the "African Millenium" celebration at his Addis Ababa Sheraton Hotel was a proud moment for Ethiopians. It was a magnificent gathering of more than five thousand guests, with Africa's finest music from across the continent and a world class fireworks display. Uniquely, this was the Sheikh's privately organized celebration as a gift to his mother's country. The ordinary residents of Addis Ababa have long been enraptured by the grand scale and vision of Al-Amoudi's projects - tourism, construction, transport, manufacturing, meat export (possibly millions of sheep), and of course his famous Sheraton Hotel. Only the government itself employs more people than the Sheikh, which causes some concern that Addis is overly dependent on Al-Amoudi's many enterprises. However, thirty thousand Ethiopians living abroad came home for the Millenium celebration. Maybe with a new conference hall and airport, Addis will soon truly become the diplomatic capital of Africa (Addis Tribune, January 6, 2000, www.ethio.com).

Mr. Hasit Shah is a second-generation entrepreneur now running a horticultural products exporting business established by his father in 1972 under the name SunRipe. Mr. Shah's father is a Kenyan citizen descended from a Gujarat (India) family which had imigrated to Kenya at the turn of the century. He had worked as a general import trader before deciding to go into partnership with a large group of Kenyan African farmers to export fruit and vegetables to Europe. The operation began with three workers in 1972. Today it has sixty-five employees. SunRipe has a technical and marketing agreement with one of the largest horticultural product specialist in France - Lacour, who supply most of the French supermarket chains. It addition to supplies from its own 730 acre farm, SunRipe buys beans, tomatoes, passion fruit, mangoes, bananas and avocados from 500 small holders. SunRipe has been instrumental in broadening access to markets, improving cultivation practices, providing more regular employment for small scale farmers, their families and hired labor, and raising and diversifying rural incomes (Keith Marsden, "African Entrepreneurs," p. 29-30).

In 1957, Njenga Karume started a small pub in the Kiambu district of Kenya and was then encouraged by East African Breweries to start beer distribution in Kiambu. He went on to become the leading beer distributor in Kenya. Meanwhile, he also diversified his business and ventured into cattle ranching, flower and coffee farming, manufacturing, real estate and hotels. What started humbly as one little pub grew from strength to strength, becoming the present-day business conglomerate known as Karume Investments Company. This shrewd businessman wields immense political clout as the Kiambaa Member of Parliament. He cherishes peace and is on record saying peace and tranquility must be put above all else (The Nairobi Nation, May 19,1999, http://allafrica.com).

From humble beginnings in 1905, the Madhvani Group has steadily grown into a widely diversified conglomerate, which is the largest private sector investor in Uganda and is closely linked with the country's development. Founded by the late Muljibhai P. Madhvani in 1905, the Group is now managed by a board of directors, led by Mayur Madhvani. The Madhvani Group is one of the most successful groups in Uganda, consisting of numerous companies, which produce a wide range of products and services, while employing over 13,000 people in Uganda. For example, Kakira Sugar Works is Uganda's largest sugar producer, Nile Breweries is the market-leader in Uganda, and Mweya Safari Lodge is Uganda's leading game-park lodge. In addition to its diversified business activities in Uganda, the Group has interests in various countries of Africa as well as the rest of the world. Over the years, the Madhvani Group has developed a team of personnel of various nationalities that work in multi-cultural harmony - with a unique combination of managerial, technical marketing and financial expertise. The Group's growth strategy also encompasses joint ventures with leading international companies to meet the needs of various businesses and markets (www.madhvani.org).

Karume Investments and the Madhvani Group demonstrate that the growth of individual enterprises from small- to medium- and large-scale operations, in terms of both production and employment is quite feasible. Keith Marsden points out that successful African enterprises have often expanded this way, as their owners have acquired experience, accumulated capital, and penetrated markets progressively ("African Entrepreneurs," p. 21).

Central Africa: Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Zaire, etc.

Seeking five more entrepreneurs to present for Central Africa.

In 1996, Tony Teixeira was trying to find a way for the Central African Republic (CAR) to barter-fund a $188-million hydroelectric scheme. CAR is rich in rivers and natural resources. He noticed people digging holes everywhere and discovered that CAR's wealth lies not in crops but in gold and diamonds- lots of them. He formed his own company called Camco and sunk his own money into proper diamond trading and mining projects. Camco has six blocks of diamond rich-concessions with river terraces and gravels bearing diamonds. Where there are rivers, there are diamonds. Camco is forming joint ventures with professional diamond diggers on Camco's blocks. Camco has also established Cadco, one of three authorized diamond buying agencies. Cadco will buy stones for export from Camco's operations. In the meantime, Teixeira has recommended not going with the hydroelectric scheme but to go with river turbines at a cost of only $20 million. CAR may be undeveloped, unexplored and under invested, but Teixeira is finding the country full of thrilling prospects and open for business (Business Times, September 20, 1998, www.sundaytimes.co.za).

North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, etc.

Seeking four more entrepreneurs to present for North Africa.

In 1950, Onsi Sawiris founded Orascom with the mission to build the infrastructure and improve the quality of life for the people of Egypt. Today, the Orascom Group (www.orascom.com) carries on this mission through three primary operating companies. Orascom Construction Industries builds the infrastructure and provides the materials for a growing nation. Orascom Technologies delivers "state of the art" computer products and telecom services to the people of Egypt. Orascom Projects and Touristic Development creates world class resort communities in harmony with Egypt's natural beauty. Their first venture, El Gouna, has grown to become one of Egypt's premier tourist resorts along the Red Sea. Orascom's presence at El Gouna in Egypt, Aqaba in Jordan, and Taba Heights right on Egypt's border with Israel puts the entire region on the European travel map. The Orascom Group is one of the largest and most successful business enterprises in Egypt and is now managed by Mr. Sawiris and his three sons, Naguib, Sameeh and Nassef. Business and family are synonymous for this billionaire magnate with his old-fashioned values. He and his sons are Egypt's version of the Rothchilds and the Rockefellers (www.ahram.org.eg).

Upon his return from the USA in 1985, Dr. Ahmed Bahgat dropped academic physics and proceeded to make his fortune from household appliances, telecommunications, the Dreamland theme park, you name it. He established the Baghat Group, in order to achieve his vision of creating electronic products meeting international quality standards and reachable to all levels of the Egyptian society. Thereby, raising Egyptians' quality of life. The Bahgat Group (www.baghat.com) encompasses major leading companies in all fields of the electronics industry, marketing and sales services, and entertainment urban development. With a staff exceeding 10,000 persons, the companies manufacture and market home appliances that are world class in quality, cost and customers' satisfaction. This is achieved through the integration of people, technology and business systems. 

Request to Readers of this Paper

It would be greatly appreciated if the readers of this ongoing paper would email me at (whlgeagle@aol.com) their suggestions for additional entrepreneurs for Central Africa and North Africa that you feel should be considered. Preference will be given for those entrepreneurs who employ more than fifty people. A paragraph of ten to twenty lines describing their accomplishments would be terrific. Please also recommend African sources that could be read and included in this paper or any socioeconomic issues not included that you feel should be included. 

As for myself, I am a 1961 graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and was a partner in an automobile dealership in Kansas from 1964 until 1988. I am now retired and live in Overland Park, Kansas. I would like to thank those readers who have made suggestions or corrections and to thank the friends my wife and I had the pleasure of making during our trip to Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia in August 2000 for their support.

The Future of Africa

Keith Marsden's World Bank Discussion Papers: No. 17 "Private Enterprise in Africa" (1987) and No. 9 "African Entrepreneurs" (1990), should be read by those readers who wish to better understand the characteristics, problems and needs of modern African entrepreneurs - the true pioneers of development in Africa. Marsden demonstrates that entrepreneurship is alive and well in Africa. It has flourished most where supportive policy regimes have allowed relatively free markets to operate, and yet, it has managed to survive even hostile African environments of central planning, public ownership of the means of production, and massive government intervention and controls ("African Entrepreneurs," p. 22). Marsden concludes that African governments could accelerate progress towards their national economic and social goals by doing fewer things better. They could widen the field for private enterprise by removing barriers and constraints to private initiative. They could foster open, competitive markets ("Private Enterprise in Africa," p. 66).

Nigerian Minister of Co-operation and Integration in Africa, Dapo Sarumi, wants to begin a new era of cooperation among African countries. He calls for African countries: to work together by pulling down the artificial boundaries created by colonial masters; to tackle the problems of internal conflicts and create a culture of peace; and to enlarge their markets so that the chances of Africa prospering in the new millenium are increased. By the year 2002, he wants to pull down the physical barriers and the custom barriers that now make it difficult for people to be able to get into a car in Lagos, Nigeria and drive to Dakar, Senegal (Lagos This Day, August 14, 2000). An example of working together is Morocco and Senegal agreeing to a framework convention implementing major projects in Senegal such as the upgrading of roads and highways, the construction and development of ports and the building of a large bridge somewhere in Senegal (Panafrican News Agency July 29, 2000). Maybe some day people may easily travel by car or rail from Senegal to Europe by way of a tunnel or bridge from the coast of Morocco across or under the Strait of Gibralter to the coast of Spain. Maybe the ancient Trans-Saharan trade routes will see increased trade between Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa (http://allafrica.com).

Nile Basin countries should utilize equitably the Nile waters to enhance their development activities. Water from the Ethiopian highland accounts for more than 80 percent of the Nile waters. Ethiopia could utilize its waters for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation for socioeconomic development without causing significant negative impact to Nile Basin water users. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has surveyed the Blue Nile Basin (1956-1964) and has proposed four major dams on the Blue Nile with a combined storage equal to its mean annual flow. The annual flood of the Blue Nile would be virtually eliminated. The flow into the Sudan would become constant. Because the Blue Nile terrain favors the construction of dams to generate power, Ethiopia could supply electricity not only to satisfy most of its own needs but also export power to the Sudan and Egypt. Four million Ethiopian farmers would be needed to work the newly irrigated land. According to the experts, the amount of water available to the Sudan and Egypt would not be substantially affected. The reduction of evaporation and transmission losses, the availability of regulated flow, the control of flood hazards, the possible development of river transport, the increased water storage facilities and the generation of surplus energy for the benefit of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt are some of the benefits to be derived from the Nile Basin countries cooperating together (Addis Ababa Monitor, August 6, 1999, http://allafrica.com).

Updated: October 16, 2000.