AFRICAN BUSINESS ON THE RISE?

CENTRE FOR BUSINESS AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES (CBDS) arranged this seminar on the 20th June 2012. Please see below for papers and presentations from this seminar.

Seminar description:

From “The hopeless continent” (Economist, 2000) to “The hopeful continent” (Economist, 2010), African business appears to be on the rise. Foreign investors are setting up businesses, local industries and entrepreneurship are flourishing, and a new generation of African business lions is finding its way through the challenging institutional environments. 

Yet behind all the hype, how much do we really know about the new African business lions? How widespread are these African lions, what defines this new generation of African firms, and what are the determinants of their success? In short, what are the major research agendas on the rise of African business?

To assist dealing with these important questions, CBDS has invited two distinguished scholars on African enterprise development - Arne Bigsten, Professor in Development Economics at the University of Gothenburg, and John Kuada, Professor of International Management at Aalborg University. Based on the presentations and the discussions, the seminar will seek to refine the research agenda on African business. The seminar will provide inputs to a major CBDS research project on ‘Successful African Firms and Institutional Change’ (The SAFIC Project) recently funded by the Danida Research Council (see  www.cbs.dk/cbds/safic  for more information).

Photos from the seminar:

Papers presented at the seminar:

1. Agenda for the day

2. Bigsten & Söderbom 2006 article

3. Kuada 2010 article

4. Jorem, Hansen and Jeppesen 2012

Presentations from the seminar:

• Søren Jeppesen,

• Arne Bigsten,

• John Kuada,Kuada presentation - African business on the rise