1st Edition

The Routledge Companion to Business in Africa

Edited By Sonny Nwankwo, Kevin Ibeh Copyright 2014
    624 Pages 49 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    624 Pages 49 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Although the world's poorest inhabited continent, Africa has recently shown signs of being a source of economic growth in the coming decades, with increased foreign investment - notably from China - and huge growth in GDP from a number of African states. In contrast to the heaving weight of books focusing on business opportunities in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, Africa has been poorly served by academic publishing.

    This compendium of scholarship offers cutting-edge knowledge relating to business in Africa. The objectives of this collection include:

    • To shed new light on the socio-cultural and historical underpinnings of business practice in Africa and their implications for promoting entrepreneurship and business behaviour in the region
    • To consider the important constraints on business activities in Africa, and the emerging 'best practice' for redressing their real and potential impacts
    • To facilitate a better understanding of contemporary business practice in Africa through the application of relevant theories and models, including emergent ones.

    The Routledge Companion to Business in Africa is a comprehensive reference resource that provides the perfect platform for embarking on research and study into Africa from the business perspective.

    Introduction (Sonny Nwankwo and Kevin Ibeh) Part 1: 2. Intra-African Regional Expansion: Rhetoric, Reality and Risks (Franklin Ngwu, Ifedapo Adeleye and Chris Ogbechie) 3. Regional Economic Integration and Corporate Africa in the 21st Century: A focus on COMESA (Gerry Muuka and Bellarmine Ezumah) 4. Africa’s Retailing Environment: The Online Shopping Perspective (Anayo D. Nkamnebe) 5. Understanding Africa’s Business Environment: The case of the Airline Industry (Raphael Akamavi and Yue Xu) 6. Africa’s Third Sector: Assessing the Impact of Africa’s Social Enterprises (Tigineh Mersha, Ven Sriram and Roger Elliott) 7. African Consumers and Country-of-Origin Influence: Evidence from Morocco (A Ben Oumlil) 8. Pro-foreign Consumption Phenomenon in Africa: Insights from Nigeria (Ogwo E. Ogwo and Gazie S.Okpara) 9. Family Consumption Systems in Africa: A Focus on Children (Ayantunji Gbadamosi) 10. African Entrepreneurs’ Performance: An Ethnicity Perspective (Emmanuel Cleeve and Tidings Ndhlovu) 11. Women Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa – A Case Approach (Nnamdi Madichie and Robert Hinson) 12. Informal Economy Entrepreneurs from Sub-Saharan Africa: Observations from Kenya (Diane Holt and David Littlewood) 13. African Entrepreneurs, Financial Literacy, Debt and Bankruptcy (Ignatius Ekanem) 14. Diaspora Africans and Entrepreneurial Characteristics: A Focus on Nigerians in the UK (Sanya Ojo) 15. Ethical and Moral Philosophies of Business: North Africa Versus North America (A Ben Oumlil and Josephh Balloun) 16. Doing Business in Africa – Some Challenges (Richard B. Nyuu, Ellis Osabutey and Yaw Debrah) 17. Business Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Obstacles, Myths and Realities (Charles J. Mambula) 18. FDI in Africa: Chinese Enterprises and Their Business Strategies (Daouda Cisse) 19. Emerging Global Firms: Insights of Chinese Multinationals in Africa (Joseph Amankwah-Amoah and Yaw A. Debrah) 20. FDI and Labor Productivity Growth in SSA Countries: Theory and Evidence (Khaled Elmawazini) Part 2: 21. Knowledge Management, Capacity Building and Sustainable Development in Africa (Allam Ahmed) 22. Cross-border Inter-firm Knowledge Generation and Enterprise Development in Africa (John Kuada) 23. Entrepreneurship Education for a Renascent Africa (Nicolas Hamekin and Sonny Nwankwo) 24. Business Strategy and Firms’ Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa (John Okpara) 25. Strategic Human Resources Management, Labour Market Efficiency and Competitiveness in Africa: Contemporary Issues and Prospects for the Future (Ifedapo Adeleye and Yetunde Anibaba) 26. Consumer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) as Competitive Differentiator in an Emerging African Economy (Nana Owusu-Frimpong, Ebenezer Asare Effah and Kofi Osei-Frimpong) 27. Strengthening Africa’s Financial Infrastructure: an Institutional Analysis of Formal Prudential Regulations (Franklin Ngwu) 28. Poverty Alleviation in Africa Through Micro-Financing Innovations (Robert Rugimbana) 29. Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Relations in Africa: Evidence from the Nigerian Banking Sector (Kenneth Amaeshi, Ifedapo Adeleye and Olufemi Amao) 30. Towards Greater Investment in Infrastructure Development in Africa (PD Rwelamila) 31. Tourism as a Strategy for Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa (Jerry Kolo) 32. Attracting Small and Medium Multinational Enterprises to African Economies (Evelyn Wamboye and Abel Adekola) 33. Facilitating Africa’s Economic Growth via Informal Economic Activity (Paschal Anosike Pervaiz Ahmed) 34. Conclusion (Kevin Ibeh and Sonny Nwankwo)

    Biography

    Sonny Nwankwo is Professor of Marketing at the University of East London, UK.

    Kevin Ibeh is Professor of Marketing and International Business at  Birkbeck, University of London, UK.

    'Refreshing in its breadth and depth of coverage of the business landscape both in Africa and on Africa.' - Professor Gerry Nkombo Muuka, Associate Dean in the College of Business at Murray State University in Kentucky, USA

    'The Routledge Companion to Business in Africa offers a wide-ranging and authoritative evaluation of the current state of play and is an effective antidote to an academic literature which neglects the continent. Entrepreneurship, finance, markets and the business environment are amongst the topics expertly covered with an underlying theme concerned with policy formation and sustainable development. This companion fills a big gap in our knowledge and understanding of Africa.' - Janet Druker, Professor, University of Westminster, UK