This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

Profit from the World’s Largest Untapped Market: Africa’s MORE THAN 900 MILLION Consumers!

“This book lays out a powerful portrait of the growing opportunities in Africa. It is clear to us that any global firm interested in growth must see Africa as an essential part of its portfolio.”

--E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company, USA

“While we consider Africa one of our most important markets, we are very aware that it is often overlooked as a place to conduct sustainable business. This book shows that Africa offers opportunities equal to other developing regions that receive more attention. Through the Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards, we have committed to promoting high-quality coverage of the business environment in Africa. This book makes an important contribution in providing a vivid picture of the African market opportunity.”

--Paul Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, Diageo, UK

“This book presents a compelling argument for waking up to the potential of a continent with a population of over 900 million and a high rate of growth. The African continent is rich in natural resources and presents opportunities across a wide cross-section of industrial and commercial areas for companies with appropriate business strategies and a genuine commitment to improving the quality of life of the local population.”

--Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Group, India

“Unilever has invested in Africa for over a century and is committed to building strong market positions in the region by meeting the needs of African consumers. As this book highlights, the opportunities for consumer goods companies are considerable and the potential to do business in Africa is much greater than many companies realize.”      

--Patrick Cescau, Global CEO, Unilever, UK

“Bravo. The timing of this book is perfect. It will be much quoted. I especially like how Professor Mahajan uses the voices of Africans to bring it to life, alongside the research.”

--Barbara James, former Managing Director of the African Venture Capital Association and founder of the Henshaw Funds, the first independent pan-African private equity Fund of Funds, Nigeria/UK

With more than 900 million consumers, the continent of Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing markets. In Africa Rising, renowned global business consultant Vijay Mahajan reveals this remarkable marketplace as a continent with massive needs and surprising buying power.

Crossing thousands of miles across the continent, he shares the lessons that Africa’s businesses have learned about succeeding on the continent...shows how global companies are succeeding despite Africa’s unique political, economic, and resource challenges...introduces local entrepreneurs and foreign investors who are building a remarkable spectrum of profitable and sustainable business opportunities even in the most challenging locations...reveals how India and China are staking out huge positions throughout Africa...and shows the power of the diaspora in driving investment and development.

• Recognize that Africa is richer than you think
  Africa is richer than India on the basis of gross national income (GNI) per capita, and a dozen African countries have a higher GNI per capita than China.

• Aim for Africa Two
  Opportunities exist in all parts of the market, particularly the 400 million people in the middle of the market.

• Find opportunities to organize the market
  From retailing to cell phones to banking, companies are succeeding by building infrastructure.

• Develop strategies for the most youthful market in the world
  Companies are recognizing opportunities from diapers to music to medicine in a market growing younger every day.

• Understand that Africa is not a “media dark” continent
  From Nollywood to satellite to broadband, media is exploding on the continent.

• Recognize the hidden strength of the African diaspora
  The African diaspora brings resources and knowledge to African development and expands the African opportunity beyond the continent.

• Build Ubuntu markets
  Create profitable businesses, sustainable growth, and social organizations by meeting basic human needs.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 51 Ratings

Africa - A Global Powerhouse - 2009-10-14
Reviewer Rating:
As a U.S. citizen, I have always felt that Africa was well covered in the media, but generally dismissed as an area of the world that is more poverty than potential. This book helped me better understand the HUGE influence that Africa has on the world, and the opportunities that exist due to the 900 million consumer market. The investment and business growth opportunities are already being taken advantage of by many major companies - and the book provides a compelling argument that the African Market will play a dominant role as the financial markets recover.

Clearly, the workforce in Africa is still widely untapped, and offers benefits similar to the early Asian markets for vast workforce opportunity. The book is clear and concise, and offers a relatively quick opportunity to be more aware of the African Marketplace.

HIGH RECOMMENDATION, especially for those individuals that have either an interest - workforce or knowledge - in world influences.

Surprising case studies from Africa - 2009-10-12
Reviewer Rating:
"We know everything about how Africans die, but we know little about how Africans live," said Swedish author and self-proclaimed African-at-heart, Henning Mankell. This is a book about Africa, but its protagonists are not disease-ridden men and women, starving children or raging warlords. Vijay Mahajan paints a picture of a continent overflowing with entrepreneurial spirit and economic opportunity. He excitedly strings together story after story of entrepreneurial gardens planted in what looked like deserts. At the same time, he makes it quite clear that if you expect to make money in Africa simply by copying business models from elsewhere, you might as well forget about it. To succeed, you must take the time to understand how Africans live and, especially, to learn what their daily challenges are, be they economic, political, institutional or existential. Opening the door of opportunity in Africa requires just a little extra portion of creativity. Mahajan covers a lot of ground in this book. His inspiring case studies will teach you lessons about innovation and entrepreneurship that you can apply anywhere in the world. However, while this book might encourage you to plunge into business in Africa, you will have to turn to another source for hands-on advice. For that reason, getAbstract recommends this work to entrepreneurs and strategists who have not yet considered the African market - not those who are ready to go.

Africa is changing - 2009-09-24
Reviewer Rating:
Working with NGO's, poverty and with key issues like HIV/AIDS in Africa I was so encouraged to read Africa Rising. Most of what one hears from the African continent in the press and media or the perception of Africa is one of war, disease, pessimism, corruption and general bad news. Vijay Mahajan, the Indian author, said that this was the same, bad /negative press that India was getting 20 years ago and now look what is happening and where India is going. In this perception, it is easy to overlook the business opportunities that are occurring. He predicts after multiple visits that Africa is moving already in a serious change for the future. He states, "that if Africa were one country, in 2006 according to World Bank data, it would be the tenth largest economy in the world." It is not but it is much richer than you think.

Page 18 --" The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Africa. Entrepreneurs solve problems. Take away electricity, and they sell generators and inverters. Take away a stable financial system, and they make their money on speculating on foreign currency. Take away their employment, and they set up kiosks in the street. Entrepreneurship and the development of consumer markets may be a more clean, stable, and powerful driver of long-term progress than political reform. " Mr. Mahajan gives ample examples throughout the continent why this is not only the future, this is the present.

We tend to emphasize how politics affects business but even in this global economic environment, how does business affect politics. Entrepreneurs are constantly looking for opportunities and are the primary engine in creating wealth. Mr. Mahajan gives many examples like Uganda of businesses that were forced out under Idi Amin but that have come back and are some of the largest businesses and corporate social responsibility shareholders in the country. Or like Rwanda, once known for genocide but now for a President that is seriously moving this country in another direction.

Another example is the CelTel founder Mohamed Ibrahim. He says Africa has gotten a lot of bad press but there are 53 countries and 4-5 of them have severe problems but this is a BIG continent. "Even with this negative perception, when there is a gap between perception and reality, there is business to be made." page 21 - This company is now operating in 15 countries and has invested at the writing of this book USD 750 million in Africa. Ibrahim has consistently refused to pay bribes and has created systems of good governance. He has been giving back to Africa with a 200 million joint venture fund for African entrepreneurs. This Sudanese born entrepreneur says, " We are apart of the fabric of Africa. This money I have made in Africa, and it is really their money." He has also established an annual USD 5 million prize, plus $200,000 for life, for retired African leaders who rule well and then stand down. This award is larger than the Nobel Peace Prize. He is showing demonstrating the impact of business upon political and social development.

Optimism is growing. Africa is indeed rising. Some of the best trained Africans are returning home to countries that have created positive and stable governments where there economies are flourishing. Even in countries of war like the western province of Darfur, Khartoum is being compared with Dubai. In Mogadishu which is still of international concern, in the north, Somaliland is thriving and stable. China is investing seriously into this continent. In fact, direct investment in Africa doubled in 2006 from the 2004 levels.

The continent has been further connected through under water fiber optic cables and broadband internet will make an even more significant impact financially as communication increases radically next door and globally. 2/3rds of African countries have populations bigger than Singapore --if you cannot afford to miss markets like Singapore -- you cannot ignore these African countries.

You get the gist of this book -- If you are in business and looking for opportunities, this book is a must --- I think it is also a must for Churches, NGO's, MicroFinance organizations to see how they can better partner for poverty alleviation and corporate social responsibility for the benefit of all. If you have been pessimistic about Africa, read this book.

Good overview of marketing in Africa - 2009-07-30
Reviewer Rating:
Author Vijay Mahajan recognizes that Africa is more than a hot continent full of corrupt officials, desert sands and teeming jungles. He dispels the myth that Africa is homogeneous and recognizes the various market strategies on the African Continent.

Through statistics and anecdotal stories, he paints a picture of blazingly hot opportunities in Africa. Some of these seem like no brainers- of course Africans want cell phones, TV's and the latest technology. But do countries have the infrastructure and the ability to construct and maintain cell towers and keep an electrical grid operating smoothly? Yes and No and the author let's the reader know that some countries have better resources than others but even the countries a reader might not think are worth investing in - say Zimbabwe- still have consumers who long for products. Examples the author gives of products being marketed in Africa currently are soaps, shampoos and beers to name a few. Very interesting was the Nigerian entertainment industry. The would be investor must be creative in not only what he sells but how he sells it and even how it will be distributed.

I found the author's research to be insightful but also a little too optimistic. Wars are raging in parts of the African continent and corruption is an enormous problem making some investments just too risky. Still this is a good book informing investors that Africa really is an opportunity not to be overlooked. I have recommended this book to my nephew who recently graduated from college. He is a marketing major and was very interested in reading about African consumers when I told him about Africa Rising.

The book offers less than you might think - 2009-06-28
Reviewer Rating:
Africa may be rising, but the case is not made convincingly in this book. The book is an amalgam of aggregate statistics that are not placed in context, some nice stories, and unanalyzed claims by business people, government officials and others.

A few examples are illustrative of the book's level of sophistication:
-The famous Nigerian money transfer scam is used as an example of the sophistication of African IT.
-Throughout the book, Mahajan claims that the continent is "optimistic." His evidence for this is almost entirely advertisements (most of which are geared towards the middle and upper class). Is there an advertiser anywhere that has pessimistic ads? Imagine: "Buy Guinness, because you need to drink away you're sad poor life."
-There are meaningless lists throughout the book. For example, in South Africa there is a marketing newsletter called "Bizcommunity." "The newletter has attracted interest across Africa- including Angola, Algeria, Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe." I believed him when he said "across Africa." The fact that one person in Seychelles reads the newsletter online has added nothing to my understanding of Africa's business prospects.
-Mahajan has a section on "trade not aid," in which he decries NGOs that prevent Africans from supporting themselves. Never, ever, does he mention any NGO or NGO program that has done this. Every NGO mentioned is described enthusiastically.
-The section on water argues that there is a huge market opportunity because many people don't have access to clean water. With logic like this, if a business is looking for its greatest "opportunity" it should find the exact poorest part of the world... I know there are opportunities in undeveloped markets, but let's not facilely translate "challenge" into "opportunity."
-Mahajan mixes up commercial and non-profit opportunities. He writes that an NGO has found a cheap way to sterilize water. This is not an example of 900 million consumers offering more than you think.
-Mahajan says the Egyptian "brand" and the "South African" are worth more on a per capita basis than China's or India's. What this could possibly mean is not explained. Mahajan also says that South Africa's brand is worth 40% of its GDP. Meaning? But doesn't this mean the GDP is low? And considering the brand is a stock variable, an asset on the balance sheet, why would you compare it with a flow variable, the yearly income?
-There is a quote by Don Cheadle, the actor, claiming that negative perceptions of Africa are due to bad press. Quotes like these are taken on authority and form part of the core of the book's evidence.
-There are superficial allusions to China and India throughout. The argument is that China and India succeeded, why can't Africa? The fact that the Chinese and Indian stories are highly dissimilar is not even raised. The innumerable differences between the continent of Africa and China and India are mentioned, if at all, to be brushed aside.

These are but a few of the inadequacies of the book. Rather than a coherent effort, it reads more like a pastiche of feel good articles and banal bureaucratic talking points. The end notes is stuffed with articles from magazines and newspapers for the general reader- no Journal of Economics or Africa Policy Studies here. The book ends with "A Call to Action," including this observation: "There is a need for more political leaders with vision and compassion, as well as business leaders with the drive, knowledge, and perspective to lead their enterprises through the many challenges they face in Africa." Did anyone need to read this book to realize that?

Ultimately, I am disappointed for selfish reasons. As someone launching a social enterprise in Kenya, I was hoping for an accessible guide to understanding the intersection of business and development in Africa- an Africa specific, "Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" more or less. Unfortunately, this book is far less.

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