The Definitive Guide to Doing Business in Africa

For global and Africa-based companies looking to access new growth markets, Africa offers exciting opportunities to build large, profitable businesses. Its population is young, fast-growing, and increasingly urbanized--while rapid technology adoption makes the continent a fertile arena for innovation. But Africa's business environment remains poorly understood; it's known to many executives in the West only by its reputation for complexity, conflict, and corruption.

Africa's Business Revolution provides the inside story on business in Africa and its future growth prospects and helps executives understand and seize the opportunities for building profitable, sustainable enterprises. From senior leaders in McKinsey's African offices and a leading executive on the continent, this book draws on in-depth proprietary research by the McKinsey Global Institute as well as McKinsey's extensive experience advising corporate and government leaders across Africa. Brimming with company case studies and exclusive interviews with some of Africa's most prominent executives, this book comes to life with the vibrant stories of those who have navigated the many twists and turns on the road to building successful businesses on the continent.

Combining an unrivalled fact base with expert advice on shaping and executing an Africa growth strategy, this book is required reading for global business executives looking to expand their existing operations in Africa--and for those seeking a road map to access this vast, untapped market for the first time.

How the three independent asset managers Coronation, Allan Gray and Investec (later Ninety One) , dubbed the CIA, came to dominate and continue to dominate the South African asset management industry, particularly the pension fund market.

There are plenty of colourful big ego personalities such as Hendrik du Toit at Ninety One, Leon Campher at Coronation and the late Allan Gray plus kingmakers reshaping thr industry such as Patrice Motsepe.

Expansive transforms 250 episodes from the award-winning The Expansive podcast into 52 weekly provocations that will rewire how you think about possibility, influence, and personal transformation.

John Sanei and Erik Kruger have spent years challenging conventional wisdom across global stages, boardrooms, and bestselling books. Now, they’ve distilled their most powerful insights into essays that don’t just inform but instigate change.

Each piece is crafted to shake loose old thinking patterns and reveal blind spots you didn’t know you had about your life, leadership, and work.

This book operates at the intersection of strategy and soul, where ambition meets purpose. It’s for leaders and changemakers who are ready to transform not just their immediate world, but their entire approach to what’s possible. Whether used as a personal guide or as a powerful tool for weekly team reflections, each essay sparks conversations that matter.

Fifty-two opportunities for growth and advancement await you in these pages.

Are you ready to be expansive?

Today disruption is a part of our daily business vocabulary. We’re all aware of it, and yet many of us still struggle to cope with fast-paced change. How do we take control of our future? What can we do to stop chasing and start attracting – start MAGNETiiZING – the life we want?

In his bestselling What’s Your Moonshot?, global speaker and trend specialist John Sanei explained how the world is changing exponentially. In his follow-up Magnetiize, he challenges business leaders, employees and individuals to become future-ready, asking a selection of thoughtprovoking questions along the way: Is your organisation profit-led or purpose-led? Are you building a fast-paced flash-in-the-quarterly-profit-balancesheet-pan or an elegant legacy? Are you a bystander of disruption or a creator of the future? Are you running away from the darkness or towards the light? How can you find your purpose and build a life in which you attract to you the future of your own making? In answering these and other questions, John explains how to inspire the best people to work with you; how to build an army of superfans (not just clients and consumers); how to build a culture that creates disruption itself (rather than being disrupted); and, ultimately, how to rethink the world we live in.

It’s time to reevaluate the concept and measures of success.

It’s time to stop chasing life, and to MAGNETiiZE the life you want.

Awaken curiosity. Cultivate wisdom. Discover the abundant future.

In a data-laden, disrupted, dread-inducing world, how can we see clearly into the future? How can we navigate through the data, become the disruptors and replace our sense of dread for the future with a clear-thinking, positive vision of things to come?

Following his first two ground-breaking books, What’s Your Moonshot? and Magnetiize, John Sanei turns his endless curiosity to the perspectives, perceptions and prejudices that prepare us for our illogical future. He breaks down the four types of seeing – HINDsight, PLAINsight, INsight and FOREsight – we humans use to guide us through the world and into the future. Then, with 20 shots of vivid, eye-opening FOREsight, he gives readers the opportunity to peer into what that future could be.

> What can the history of the first autonomous vehicle, the elevator, teach us about autonomous cars and their effect on real estate and city planning?

> Why will the gold in our smartphones change the way we mine gold from the ground?

> How can you connect the invisible dots between the confusion of today and the grand potential of tomorrow?

In 2018 the world watched as 82 per cent of all wealth created was claimed by the top 1 per cent of the global population. The bottom 50 per cent of humanity saw no increase at all. While one new billionaire was created every two days, one in every four South Africans were living on less than R18 per day – not enough to buy a loaf of bread.

Inequality has always been part of the world we live in, but in the past twenty years the situation has worsened. We have seen the rise of mega corporations, where regional companies have become global players: power brokers that are richer and more powerful than most countries. This has seen businesses record ever-increasing profits while they pay ever-decreasing taxes. How is this happening?

In South Africa, millions of people depend on the services and products of mega corporations, but to what extent do these corporations influence and affect the lives of their consumers? What do these companies do with all the power that is in their hands?

In The Dirty Secrets of the Rich and Powerful, James-Brent Styan casts the spotlight on economic inequality and unpacks historical and ongoing business practices that have a real influence on people today. This book takes you right into the corridors of power and behind the closed doors of the boardrooms of the rich and powerful to show you how, and why, the status quo seems so unfair.

Futureproof your business, career and family with these invaluable insights. This is an essential compendium of trends for anyone who is anxious or excited about thriving in the uncertain decade ahead. Along with accompanying actionable insights to pre-empt and solve the challenges and problems they represent to the serious South African with business, career and family interests to look after, it's a must-have.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is indispensable in the spheres of business, government, education, and entertainment. It makes Internet marketing, e-government, elearning and online chat services possible, as well as e-commerce. With the radical impact of Covid-19 on consumer behaviour and buying patterns, it is now more crucial than ever for business training to cover at least the basics of e-commerce.

E-Commerce in South Africa explores the ways in which entrepreneurs and managers can make use of e-commerce to improve their contact with their customers and enhance their business and marketing strategies.

This multipurpose book will be invaluable to people involved in any form of business or government institution that relies on ICT. Those who will benefit from this book include students of business, business analysts, web page designers and webmasters, entrepreneurs and CEOs, risk managers, marketers, advertising specialists, logistics managers, strategic planning specialists and trainers in the business and ICT fields.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an immeasurable effect on the world and redefined for us what is truly important. We’re witnessing a reversion to the basics of Maslow’s hierarchy as we find ourselves seeking to safeguard our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Why? Because we no longer have the luxury of certainty.

For generations, we’ve grown up believing that studying for a defined career and securing a job would guarantee our future. This 'essential' and predictable sequence marked us as productive members of society. But is our society even a healthy one? Are we heading in the right direction or have we been blinded by collective greed and delusion? How can we justify such inequality and environmental degradation in the world? These were questions being asked even before Covid struck – and now the pandemic has accelerated a desire for change. For all the stress and disruption Covid has caused, we now have a gilt-edged opportunity to change things for the better. Now is the time for each of us to cultivate new skills, qualities and characteristics to bring about the collective future we want.

FutureNEXT plots a new way forward by combining the accessible thinking of future strategist John Sanei with the deeply thought economic and philosophical principles of Dr Iraj Abedian. The result is a book about the things we need to rethink so that we may step confidently into the future. About the new roles and responsibilities we will each have as consumers, employees, employers, entrepreneurs and executives. And ultimately about reimagining a more harmonious, systemically fair and sustainable, yet prosperous world.

Historical inequality affects entrepreneurship too. Knowledge and resources are still concentrated. Raymond Ledwaba is the CEO of ITTHYNK, which includes a tech academy in SA and Tanzania, the founder and CEO of ITTHYNK Gaming, and the co-founder of Diski Nine9. He successfully migrated from a career in banking to a life of entrepreneurship. Having not been exposed to a start-up environment, and suddenly having staff who relied on him for their salaries, this was a plunge into the unknown.

A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at one of the world's biggest tech companies.

In 2019, a Chinese entity called Tencent overtook Facebook to become the world's fifthlargest company. It was a watershed moment, a wake-up call for those in the West accustomed to regarding the global tech industry through the prism of Silicon Valley: Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft. Yet to many of the two billion-plus people who live just across the Pacific Ocean, it came as no surprise at all.

Tencent's ambition to be an essential part of digital daily life means it holds a dizzyingly diverse range of products - music, gaming, messaging, and film.

In this fascinating narrative - crammed with insider interviews, exclusive details about the company's culture - tech reported Lulu Chen tells the story of how Tencent is changing the world and asks what the consequences will be for us all.

"John, I’m exhausted. I barely have energy to change my socks, never mind reimagine a new life for me or my family. I’ve been working around the clock – for less money – to keep my job . . . Everyone wants something from me, and you know what, pal, I’m depleted. I have nothing left to give."

This is what John Sanei has been hearing over the past year as we come to terms with our bewildering, ever-shifting post-Covid world. In Who Do We Become?, John maps out our strange, new world and lays down a path to reframe our thinking, to recognise our discomfort, to survive and thrive.

Infused with empathy and personal anecdote, the book is divided into three sections. In Part 1: ANGUISH, John explores how to courageously mourn the loss of our ‘normal’ preCovid world. Part 2: ABNORMAL, shows us how to understand this new environment and recognise that uncertainty is the new normal. And in Part 3: ADVENTURE, John provides a toolkit for us to forge out into the new world, to succeed and recognise the signs of rebirth and renewal.

Did you know that AI helped to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup for South Africa? That Africa led the way in small language models? That AI has been supporting farmers in Kenya for the last decade? After reading, you will understand the present and future of AI, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI: The African Edge particularly the distinct advantages presented by and for AI on the African ccontinent.

The book draws on the author’s many years of direct access to global and regional leaders in using AI, from Africa to the Middle East to North America to Europe and Asia, and it provides unique perspectives on generative AI, as well as practical advice for using it.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI is useful for consumers, academics, professionals and anyone in business who wants to get up to speed quickly and practically. It also entertains and inspires anyone who is curious about AI or already engaged in its possibilities.

What can business learn from the use of AI in sports? How can educators embrace AI as a tool rather than a threat? When will AI truly transform health, travel, agriculture, entertainment, shopping and personal services? This book has the answers.

Leaders of the African liberation movements proclaimed ambitious objectives and promised swift dismantling of colonial policies and practices. It was believed that poverty and underdevelopment were consequences of the exploitative policies of the colonial masters, who
had no interest in improving living conditions for local communities.

Independence and freedom were anticipated to eradicate poverty, ignorance and disease, and the new leadership would accelerate economic development and prosperity.

However, after more than 50 years of independence, most African countries are still poor and underdeveloped and this poses a few questions:

• Have African leaders abandoned their ambitions?
• Are African challenges more complex than in other regions?
• Has the political leadership failed to rise to the challenge?

The world is changing. It's time for a new financial playbook.

In this must-have guide to optimizing your life for wealth, success and happiness, you'll learn:

• how to find and follow your talent
• what small steps you can take now that pay big returns later
• how to develop better financial habits

Bursting with practical, game-changing advice from one of the world's most popular business school professors, The Algebra of Wealth is the practical guidebook you need to win today's wealth game.

Today's workers have more opportunities and mobility than any previous generation. They also face unprecedented challenges, including inflation, labour and housing shortages, and climate volatility.

Even the notion of 'retirement' is undergoing a profound rethink, as our lifespans extend and our relationship with work evolves. In this environment, the tried-and-true financial advice our parents followed no longer applies.

In The Algebra of Wealth, Galloway lays bare the rules of financial success in today's economy. In characteristic unvarnished, no-BS style, he explains you what you need to know in order to improve your chances of achieving economic security no matter what.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is upending life, work, and play as we know it … and it’s only just getting started. The rise of AI is a milestone on par with the discovery of fire, the invention of the wheel, and the creation of the internet. In short, AI is going to change everything. For some, that’s an exciting prospect. For others, it’s terrifying. However you feel about AI, there’s no escaping it, whether you’re in a global metropolis or a farmer in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

Dr Mark Nasila has been watching AI’s ascent for over a decade, studying its effects on everything from agriculture and aviation to healthcare, education, entertainment, crime prevention, energy management, policy creation, finance, and anything in between, and applying them to his role at one of South Africa’s most successful financial institutions, First National Bank, a division of FirstRand Group.

African Artificial Intelligence is a comprehensive and fascinating journey, tracing the rise of AI and its evolution into the emerging technology underpinning all others – from connected devices and smart chatbots to the metaverse. Mark combines unexpected use cases and tales of cutting-edge innovation with a unique and potent argument: harnessing AI to solve Africa’s problems requires embracing it from an African perspective.

African nations can’t afford to simply import AI solutions from afar. Instead, Mark contends, they need to rework, remix, and refine AI so it’s able to meet uniquely African challenges in uniquely African ways, and to take advantage of the once-in-a-generation opportunity AI represents for every industry, sector, and person, everywhere.

You know where you want to go. You know you have it within you. You just need the courage to do it.

As a former Google executive and top career coach – who chased an attractive stranger off the train and later married him – Jenny Wood knows her way around courage. In this book, Wood shatters conventional wisdom about achieving your goals. She gives you permission to ditch your fear and chase after what you want, unapologetically.

Wood reclaims nine traits from their negative shackles and teaches you how to apply them in a savvy and compassionate way to supercharge your success, whether you’re trying to snag a promotion, launch a company or land a life-changing deal.

Wild Courage will teach you how to be:

• Weird: Win as you or lose as ‘who?’.
• Selfish: Be your own champion.
• Shameless: Beat impostor syndrome and self-promote with ease.
• Obsessed: Push, persist and perform at your highest level.
• Nosy: Get curious to network confidently and learn from others.
• Manipulative: Build influence with empathy and manage up like a pro.
• Brutal: Draw lines and stick to them. Embrace the power of no.
• Reckless: Err on the side of action and take healthy risks.
• Bossy: Steer others to success, even if you’re not in charge yet.

When last did you get lost? We rarely do in the era of Google Maps and Waze, but satellite navigation systems are of no use when disruption turns our lives upside down. When swirling mists of uncertainty block our view of the future, we might question our ability to cope. But with awareness, determination and practise we can improve our competence, build our resilience and confidence, and gain a sense of control, even when everything feels out of control.

Whether your life has been disrupted by death, divorce, disease, Covid-19 lockdown, working from home, moving town, starting a new job, or any of a host of other disruptive events that can either make or break you, this book will guide you to the best possible outcome. Disruption is never comfortable, but regardless of whether it is positive or negative, it is a catalyst for change.

Future-Proof Yourself provides simple but effective lessons and frameworks to help you future-proof yourself to win at both work and life. Dip into chapters on disruption, remote working, resilience, teamwork, leadership and family, and learn how to remain focused, utilise pressure and create a recipe for personal success. A distillation of Nikki Bush’s professional insights as a human-potential and parenting expert, combined with her personal honesty and vulnerability, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to harness their courage and curiosity to build a rewarding, fulfilling future for themselves – no matter what life throws at them.

A business biography that follows the life of Alan Knott-Craig as a serial entrepreneur in the telecoms and tech spaces, tracking his wins and losses, and the lessons along the way for both business and life. Known in Stellenbosch business circles as the ‘Weapon of Mass Financial Destruction’ after a major flop at Mxit, he was able to rebuild his own confidence and that of his peers by becoming a shrewd, highly innovative and successful businessman, true to his own principles and convictions.

Align your financial goals with your Meaningful Mission to achieve lasting abundance and prosperity, from the host of School of Greatness.

Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck? Do you feel trapped by all your expenses every month? Do you wonder how some people enjoy financial peace and freedom while others seem stuck?

Your relationship with money begins with having the right mindset. Until you learn how to shift your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around money, you’ll keep doing what you’ve always done. And get the same results.

Leveraging insight gleaned from the many financial experts on the School of Greatness show, the latest research around the psychology of money, and his own journey to success, Lewis Howes offers the practical advice and mindset reframing to make the peace and fulfillment you desire a day-to-day reality.

Lewis walks you through:

• Identifying your Money Style
• Connecting your money mindset with your Meaningful Mission
• 7 Money Habits for financial peace and freedom

Once you are empowered with these tools, you will be able to make all the money you want—no matter your circumstances.

New results require new ways of acting. New ways of acting require new ways of looking at things … It’s called ‘reframing’, and it’s one of the most effective things humans ever do. Over the past decades, there have been amazing breakthroughs in behavioural economics. What if you could gather all the best ones in one place? An entire book packed full of ‘smart-cuts’…?

Steve Jobs once made an interesting point: ‘Animals in the wild may be more energy-efficient than humans. But put a guy on a bike, and he blows past all of them.’ That’s because technology is ‘like a bicycle for the mind.’
Turns out, the landscape is littered with bicycles. Adopt the principles and you can do almost everything faster and better. Here you will find direct answers to questions like: ‘How do you get the most out of your brain?’, What’s the best way to structure a team?’ or even, ‘How can our business be ten times cheaper or ten times faster than an industry giant?’
 
These insights are gamechangers. They come from trusted sources and work in the real world. Here is a condensation of the best brilliant breakthroughs across a range of spheres, in one easy guide. Whether you are chasing personal goals, leading teams, persuading others or are merely interested in clever ways of living the human experience, you will pick up dozens of ingenious accelerators within the pages of  Wicked Smart.

A gripping true story of resilience, justice, and the fight for digital sovereignty.

When civic-tech platform GovChat challenged the global giant Meta (WhatsApp/Facebook), few believed a South African startup could take on one of the most powerful corporations on earth. What followed was not just a courtroom battle, but a struggle over democracy, public access to services, and the future of digital innovation in Africa and beyond.

In The Silicon Empire vs Social Impact, Professor Eldrid Jordaan GovChat’s founder and a leading global voice on digital transformation takes readers inside this historic fight. From late-night legal strategy sessions to tense tribunal hearings, he reveals the high-stakes battle that tested not only his company but also the very idea of whether Big Tech should control who gets to serve citizens.

Inside the Book You’ll Discover:

• The untold story of GovChat’s rise as Africa’s largest citizen engagement platform.
• The behind-the-scenes legal showdown with Meta, exposing how Big Tech wields its dominance.
• Lessons in resilience, leadership, and purpose from a startup that refused to be silenced.
• A blueprint for startups, policymakers, and innovators navigating the digital economy 

• Entrepreneurs and startup founders
• Policymakers, lawyers, and regulators
• Tech leaders and digital transformation enthusiasts
• Anyone who loves true stories of courage, resilience, and impact

Look around you – is anything real or normal any more? News, images and videos created by AI are everywhere. The world we live in is changing daily, and it’s no exaggeration to say that everything you thought you knew is undergoing apocalyptic levels of change. Our new normal includes AI CEOs, AI partners, AI versions of our dead relatives to keep us company, and customers deploying their own adversarial agent ‘armies’ to hostile-negotiate on their behalf.

Meanwhile, the expensive skills you have accumulated, the jobs you’ve fought for, the relationships you’ve invested in, the organisations you’ve worked for and the economies we depend on for survival are shrinking even as our choices expand.

Discernment and understanding of context are now critical to your survival. So, let’s stare the future down and, instead of fearing AI, become solutionists. In order to survive in this hypercompetitive, globalised and automated world, where the strongest and smartest winners are set to take all, we need to change our mindsets and our skill sets to become fit for the ‘post-AI, apocalyptic’ world that is here to stay. This means embracing progress and turning AI and technology into an asset with which we can co-exist, while continuing to create new possibilities far into the future.

This book is a call to action to live on the flipside of fear.

Your success tomorrow has nothing to do with technology.

Most leaders assume their future depends on mastering the latest trends, embracing AI, or navigating digital disruption. They’re wrong.

In The Adaptability Code, renowned innovation expert, speaker, and tech leader Mushambi Mutuma cuts through the noise to reveal the true competitive advantage: adaptability. Mushambi argues convincingly that the leaders who will win tomorrow aren’t those with the deepest pockets, longest histories, or even the smartest teams. Instead, tomorrow’s winners will be those who remain relentlessly adaptable, continually re-coding their leadership DNA to rise and thrive through constant change.

Blending compelling stories, fresh research, and actionable frameworks, Mushambi transforms adaptability from buzzword to powerful and actionable leadership strategy. Whether you lead a multinational giant, a fast-moving start-up, or simply yourself, The Adaptability Code is your blueprint for thriving in an unpredictable future, equipping you to embrace relentless change and proactively shape your future with confidence.

If you’re ready to rewrite your leadership playbook, transform how you approach change, and create lasting relevance in tomorrow’s marketplace, this is your essential guide.

Because the future belongs not just to the tech-savvy or wellestablished, but those courageous enough to constantly reinvent, evolve and adapt themselves.

Unlock a new dimension in leadership by asking better questions.

Answers are overrated. In an unpredictable world, asking the right questions is significantly more powerful than clinging to stale, dated answers. What you knew yesterday won’t always take you where you need to go. Great leaders stand apart because they know how to ask themselves and their teams questions that spark insight, challenge assumptions, and drive action.

52 Big Questions for Business Leaders isn’t just a collection of prompts and provocations – it’s a guide to sharper, more intentional thinking. Whether you’re leading a start-up or a global enterprise, the questions in these pages will help you pause, reflect, and lead with clarity.

Drawing on decades of leadership experience, Mike Stopforth infuses wisdom, wit, and practical insight into the art of inquiry – because crafting big, beautiful questions is a skill worth mastering.

This isn’t a book to read once and shelve; it’s a tool to return to whenever you need fresh perspective, focus, or inspiration.

In the end, great leaders aren’t defined by the answers they give – but by the questions they dare to ask.