I recently read 'Blood River' by Tim Butcher. Very good book which I recommend to everyone.
From a South African point of view his insights hit the nail on the head. The one thing we Saffers fear the most is that our beautiful land will be forced down the same path as [most] of the other countries in Africa. A dismal prospect.
Someone said the other day that we are on page 4 of 'the book Mugabe Wrote'. Heaven forfend. It is a bit worrying though when Rhodesian ex-pats keep harping on the fact that they are seeing exactly the same spiral downwards here that occurred in [now] Zimbabwe. They point to the Health, Education, Farm Evictions [which are happening here, but under the radar] and other things like Unemployment issues. Crime of course is a given as an indicator of the lack of control the government are exercising. Crooks holding positions of power and influence are another item. The list goes on.....
Someone made an interesting comment the other day comparing the current government with the previous government [I hate the word 'regime']. The premise is that all governments suffer from some level of corruption [surely true], but that while the previous bunch would take $1m out of an Aid package of $10m and share it with their friends, the current bunch will eat $9m out of the $10m and then use the rest for cover-up bribes.
But we love it here. My family have been resident on South African soil for over 200 years, and we are African, albeit white. Perhaps it's time for a new class of citizen - the European-African. I mean, America has it's African-Americans, so why not?
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Feb 12, 2011
How not to do business in Africa
This is an illustration, or a parable, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information and I report it only as hearsay.
A certain international financial aid organisation approved a grant to the government of a particular country, said grant to assist in an infrastructure upgrade designed to improve conditions in many areas. In this case the funds [some millions of US $] were earmarked for an IT project within a particular government department.
Company's A, B and C applied for the tender and duly submitted their proposals. At an unspecified time during this process a representative of Company C met with Mr. X, a government official responsible for the project. An agreement was reached, funds changed hands and they parted the best of friends.
When the tender decision was made, Company's A and B were informed that their bids was unsuccessful. Based on the fact that their solution was provably more efficient, and offered at a lower price, they approached the financial institution in protest. The institution agreed that, based on the numbers, Company A's proposal was more appealing so in all fairness they decided to allow all Company's to present their solutions, after which they would make a final decision regarding who would be awarded the tender.
The rivals presented their proposals and the adjudicators were unanimous in their decision: the pre-approved funds would only be awarded if the government department accepted the proposal of Company A.
Unfortunately Mr. X had in the meantime sumptuously partaken of the 'gift' received and was not in an accomodating frame of mind so the deal died right there and then.
Company C lost credibility [in addition to the unspecified amount that constituted the 'gift'], Company A lost the deal - your classic lose-lose scenario, and Mr. X was smiling all the way to the bank.
What do we learn from this:
1] When greed overcomes morality everyone loses
2] The surface of business in Africa is only the surface
3] There is a crook everywhere you look
4] Looking good does not necessarily being / doing good.
etc. etc. etc.
What pains me is that this kind of behaviour is rife all over the world, but in Africa this method of doing business is termed 'relationship-based' - you have a relationship with the person who greases your palm the fastest, with the most money. There is no real friendship, or trust, or respect. Just greed. Sad.
A certain international financial aid organisation approved a grant to the government of a particular country, said grant to assist in an infrastructure upgrade designed to improve conditions in many areas. In this case the funds [some millions of US $] were earmarked for an IT project within a particular government department.
Company's A, B and C applied for the tender and duly submitted their proposals. At an unspecified time during this process a representative of Company C met with Mr. X, a government official responsible for the project. An agreement was reached, funds changed hands and they parted the best of friends.
When the tender decision was made, Company's A and B were informed that their bids was unsuccessful. Based on the fact that their solution was provably more efficient, and offered at a lower price, they approached the financial institution in protest. The institution agreed that, based on the numbers, Company A's proposal was more appealing so in all fairness they decided to allow all Company's to present their solutions, after which they would make a final decision regarding who would be awarded the tender.
The rivals presented their proposals and the adjudicators were unanimous in their decision: the pre-approved funds would only be awarded if the government department accepted the proposal of Company A.
Unfortunately Mr. X had in the meantime sumptuously partaken of the 'gift' received and was not in an accomodating frame of mind so the deal died right there and then.
Company C lost credibility [in addition to the unspecified amount that constituted the 'gift'], Company A lost the deal - your classic lose-lose scenario, and Mr. X was smiling all the way to the bank.
What do we learn from this:
1] When greed overcomes morality everyone loses
2] The surface of business in Africa is only the surface
3] There is a crook everywhere you look
4] Looking good does not necessarily being / doing good.
etc. etc. etc.
What pains me is that this kind of behaviour is rife all over the world, but in Africa this method of doing business is termed 'relationship-based' - you have a relationship with the person who greases your palm the fastest, with the most money. There is no real friendship, or trust, or respect. Just greed. Sad.
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