The Myths and Realities of Doing Business in Africa: What CEOs Should Know

Host: Christopher G. Caine, President of the Center for Global Enterprise (CGE) Guests: Seif el Sadek, Founder and CEO, Agrocorp, and Bowale Odumade Adeoye, Vice President Investment, Africa Finance Corporation Recently, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Africa to push for U.S. business investment in the continent. While this is part of President Biden's recently announced Africa initiative, there are myriad opportunities and challenges for any CEO—U.S. or otherwise--interested in doing business in Africa. Weighing the risks and the rewards, we ask the questions, how should CEOs approach market entry on the African continent? Can companies rely solely on distributors? Or do they need a local representative in priority markets to gather market intelligence, manage distributors, and build relationships with government?