Ifedapo Adeleye

The changing dynamics of international business in Africa

1. The Changing Dynamics of International Business in Africa: Emerging Trends and Key Issues Ifedapo Adeleye, Lyal White, Kevin Ibeh and Abel Kinoti PART I: INWARD FDI TO AFRICA: EMERGING PATTERNS, CHALLENGES AND RESEARCH AGENDA 2. An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of FDI on Domestic Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Pre- and Post- Global Financial Crises Theresa Onaji-Benson 3. Knowledge Transfer Through Expatriation How Do Subsidiary Employees Count? Yetunde Anibaba 4. Chinese Investment in Africa: Avenues for Scholarship Lite Nartey and Stephen Mezias 5. Brazilian Firms in Africa: What Makes Them Different? Any Freitas and Lyal White PART II: OUTWARD FDI FROM AND INTRA-REGIONAL FDI IN AFRICA: EMERGING TRENDS, PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES 6. Patterns and Determinants of Intra-African FDI Robert Rolfe, Alessandro Perri, and Douglas Woodward 7. Rising Africa and Its Nascent Multinational Corporations Kevin Ibeh 8. Failure of Africa-to-Africa Internationalization: Key Factors and Lessons Olawale Ajai PART III: CASES ON THE DYNAMICS OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS IN AFRICA 9. Tata: An Indian Multinationals Africa Journey Lyal White, Dianna Games, and David Cooper 10. Vale in Mozambique Lyal White, Margie Sutherland, and Stewart Nupen 11. Research in Motion/Blackberry: Managing Channel Conflict in Nigeria Uchenna Uzo 12. Standard Bank: An African Tiger Robert Grosse 13. Game: Competing in Africas Playing Field John Luiz, Stephanie Townsend, and Claire Beswick 14. FirstBank of Nigeria: Developing an Internationalization Strategy Ifedapo Adeleye, Nkemdilim Iheanachor, Chris Ogbechie, and Franklin Ngwu

Africa-to-Africa Internationalization: Emerging Trends and Key Issues

In recent times, Africa has witnessed a significant rise in Africa-to-Africa internationalization, the process by which African firms expand their operations on the continent outside their home country. While much attention in the international business literature has focused on the rise of foreign direct investment (FDI) from BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) into Africa, the literature on intra-African and outward FDI from the region is scant. This is surprising, given the marked increase in the internationalization activities of African firms in the last decade or so: South African multinationals such as MTN, SABMiller, Standard Bank, Telkom, Dimension Data, Massmart, Nampak and ShopRite now have a presence in at least a dozen African countries, as do Nigerian firms such as Dangote and UBA. Similarly, Togo-based Ecobank has established a significant footprint across the region, with operations in 33 countries. This chapter provides an overview of the recent trend in the internationalization efforts of African firms, factors influencing their internationalization efforts, challenges faced, and potential outcomes of Africa-to-Africa internationalization.

The Changing Dynamics of International Business in Africa: Emerging Trends and Key Issues

Africa is rising. Dubbed “the hopeless continent” by The Economist at the turn of the millennium, it is now widely regarded as “the next growth frontier” for global capitalism. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has tripled, from

First Bank of Nigeria: Restructuring for High Performance

15 billion in 2002 to

Africa’s Competitiveness in the Global Economy: Past, Present and Future

46 billion in 2012; real income per person has increased by over 30 percent; and the number of countries that are democratic has nearly doubled. According to the Doing Business 2015 report of the World Bank (2014), more than 70 percent of the region’s economies have carried out at least one reform in the last couple of years. The region accounts for 75 of the 230 regulatory reforms carried out worldwide, and also for five of the ten most improved economies in the world in 2013–2014. Acknowledging the progress made, The Economist produced a special report, “A Hopeful Continent: Africa Rising”, in 2013. What a difference a decade makes.

Africa-to-Africa Internationalization: Future Trends and Research Avenues

Stephen Onasanya had successfully steered First Bank through a three-year period of accelerated corporate transformation and growth, as the institution emerged from the global financial crisis of 2008. At the core of the bank’s transformation lay a new organizational structure. In 2010 the bank had transitioned from a geography-based to a customer-based organizational structure, and redesigned its nationwide coverage and deployment model to align with the new organization. In August 2012, it was apparent that the restructuring had been successful. Apart from the impressive financial results the bank had posted, significant progress had been made on many non-financial measures, including customer satisfaction. Nevertheless, Onasanya was not completely satisfied. He wondered what more could be done to make the new organizational structure deliver even better results, and help realize the bank’s ambitious vision of becoming Nigeria’s bank of first choice.

Accelerating Corporate Transformation in Emerging Markets: The Case of FirstBank

Improving Africa’s competitiveness has taken on a heightened importance as the region experiences subdued growth following a decade of commodity-fuelled expansion. Meanwhile, efforts to industrialize and diversify beyond the extractive economy are being hampered by their weak competitiveness, a prevalent and persistent problem across the region. On a somewhat positive note, several countries are now making progress with increasing their competitiveness, and there appears to be grounds for cautious optimism about future improvements. This introductory chapter of Africa’s Competitiveness in the Global Economy provides an overview of the historical, current and projected competitiveness of African firms, sectors, cities and nations. The chapter provides an overview of five thematic issues covered by the 13 contributions in this volume: the global competitiveness of African nations and cities, competitiveness measurement and evaluation, sectoral competitiveness of declining and emerging industries, human capital and talent competitiveness, and the threat of the “Dutch Disease” and protectionism to competitiveness.

FirstBank of Nigeria: Developing an Internationalization Strategy

The push and pull factors that have led to the rapid, unprecedented internationalization of African firms are likely to continue in the near future. Sensing immense market opportunities in the region, many African firms will proactively expand or follow the lead of their corporate clients and partners. Drawn by the success of firms that have grown phenomenally through internationalization, many firms will be unable to resist the opportunity to acquire a share of Africa’s one billion consumers. Firms in economies or sectors with limited growth potential will be tempted and eventually ‘forced’ to diversify geographically. Several companies will have easier access to capital and resources, providing them with large war chests for cross-border acquisitions and greenfield investments. For others, interestingly, the mere ambition of becoming a pan-African or international firm will override other apparently important (economic) considerations. Beyond these factors, more regionalization activities are likely to occur as economic integration at the sub-regional and regional levels progresses. The proposed commencement of the African Continental Free Trade Area in 2017 will most certainly trigger greater intra-African trade and investments.

Managing Change in Health Care: A Case of UTHI

The aim of this article is to investigate how an established firm in a dynamic market was able to successfully execute a corporate renewal programme in a hypercompetitive business environment. The study seeks to understand how market incumbents can transform themselves and outcompete younger, seemingly more entrepreneurial players. A longitudinal case study approach was used, following the extensive data collection in several periods between 2005 and 2013. Within this period, over 10 company visits were done to gain a first-hand knowledge of the transformation programme and to interview several senior executives and other stakeholders across the firm. In addition, relevant information from archival data and reports was collected during this period. Accelerated transformation requires taking calculated risks, redesigning the organization to align with the market, and making substantial investments in people. The study is limited to the transformation strategies adopted by a single company, FirstBank. While some of the lessons from this study can be applied to banks and other firms in transitional markets, certain factors idiosyncratic to the firm may make the universal adoption of their approach impossible. Many transformation initiatives tend to focus narrowly on technical, information technology (IT) issues, and leave out the so-called ‘soft issues’. From this case, transformation best works when process and structural transformation is complemented by radical changes in organization design and talent management systems.

MCL: Driving Expansion Through Mergers and Acquisitions:

Mr Bisi Onasanya, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank of Nigeria Ltd (FBN) was collecting his thoughts after a meeting held with officials of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex regulator of the Nigerian financial services industry. He had been appointed Managing Director of FBN in 2009 and was directing the bank’s ambitious agenda of establishing its presence in most major cities of Sub-Saharan Africa. He reflected on CBN’s plan to make Nigeria Africa’s financial capital and major financial services hub and the role FBN had to play as Nigeria’s largest bank in this process. Bisi synthesized some crucial lessons he would have to bring to bear as Nigeria moved up the African scale of economic importance and relevance. FBN’s Nigerian heritage laid the framework for its proposed aggressive internationalization.