Women have gone from publishing just 18% of books in the 1960s to more than half of books written today. That includes me!

Not only are women publishing more books, but we add diversity, introduce new narratives and increase readership.

A favorite pastime of mine is to observe traffic when I travel. It tells me a lot about a country and the resourcefulness of its people.

In Africa where car ownership is often prohibitively expensive and government-run public transport is often too sparse, a lot of ingenuity is on display on Africa’s roads.

When we see something different, our natural response is, “That’s weird,” which often equates with saying, “That’s wrong.” But is it necessarily wrong?

Read on and discover some amazing truths about Africa and Africans…

What has someone said about you that was wrong? How did that make you feel? What conclusions did people jump to about you because of your skin color, your nationality or even your height? “Oh you are so tall, you must play basketball!” How often are these stereotypes later shown to be wrong, our assumptions to be misinformed or jaded? No where is this truer than the continent of Africa.

With 1.3 billion people, 55 countries, over 2,100 languages and 3,000 ethnic groups, investing in Africa may seem complicated! Sure. Africa, with all its diversity and largesse, can be difficult to understand, to grasp. Just like most new business ventures. However, this profile also makes doing business in Africa not only desirable but essential to companies looking for growth opportunities.

Politics and power structures are just as important to understand for potential investors as is the business environment, the culture and the people.

There’s a proverb that many parts of the world, including African countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Kenya, love to quote: “Better the devil you know than the angel you don’t.”

In this second post on aligning senior leadership teams, discover how to succesfully address the specific concerns the finance, legal and HR teams probably have about taking your company’s growth to any new location, including Africa.

We’ve all been there. We’re passionate about expanding our company to Country B. Our CEO tells us “yes, yes, yes”. But then the CFO says, “no, no, no.” Read on and discover how to align your C-Suite.

As we're looking ahead into 2023, I hear so many people asking me the same question: “Where can growth be found amidst a global recession, supply chain challenges, shortage of certain foodstuffs and energy?”

Companies need people and processes that identify and capture growth. Do you have those in place? Are you ready to find and capture growth in 2023?

What are you predicting for 2023?

“I was the first elected female president of an African country, and I do believe more countries ought to try that!”

- President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, at TEDWomen 2019

My interviews with Africa’s Heads of State revealed how Africa has been at the forefront of fighting for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Long before DEI became something consultants and journalists wrote about and companies tracked, Africa’s Heads of State were leading the quest for DEI.

By 2030, Korn Ferry has estimated that there will be a global human talent shortage of more than 85 million people. Where will the world find 85 million workers? Africa.

As more CEOs, C-Suites and Corporate Directors are looking for sustainable opportunities for business growth, Africa offers an often untapped opportunity for game-changing growth.

African women are twice as likely to start a business as women elsewhere in the world. Unlocking women’s potential can make a huge contribution, not only to your business but also to the overall growth and prosperity of the continent. Working with women entrepreneurs is simply smart economics.

We’ve all seen the headlines over the past decades that describe Africa as the hopeless, hopeful, rising, dark, fastest growing, emerging continent. For me, Africa has always been AfriCAN - the can-do continent.

Let’s consider five phenomena not (yet) on many people’s radars that highlight why now is the time to invest in Africa.