Africa and the Firm: Management in Africa Through a Century of Contestation

Abstract

As the contours of exchange between African merchants and external agents changed, so did management practices develop in Africa. Three stages of global interaction developed to connect African business with the rest of the world. From pre-colonial to post-colonial interaction emerged managerial practices as African entrepreneurs negotiated the changing context of business. Management slowly adapted to the transition from traditional control to individual enterprise. In the late twentieth century, market liberalization supported the rise of individual entrepreneurs. This gave rise to management styles aligned with modern western management. A complex management dynamics was perpetuated through the sustained state intervention in post-independence economies. A claim to a distinct African management style raised a discourse on the essence of how firms are managed in Africa, especially in the context of growing globalization of African business. The dynamics of management in Africa in the twenty-first century is the fusion between modernity and tradition.