The Bold Entrepreneur's Rule for Success in Africa

Accepting Stereotypes Won't Make Our Businesses Better

“The White people are right! We don’t show up on time!”

Yes, those words actually came out of my mouth one day. 

I was furious. At the time, I thought I had every reason to be. I was standing in our manufacturing facility in Mékhé, Senegal, and the only other person who had bothered to show up was our facility’s manager, Ibou. 

It didn’t make sense to me why no one showed up to work. Yes, it had rained heavily that morning, but the rain had already stopped.  

I’m not proud of what I’m telling you, but it’s important to be honest. My anger brought out all the stereotypes I had heard about Africans while I was living in the West: We’re lazy. We don’t care. We have a terrible work ethic, and our jobs mean nothing to us. 

I was getting more enraged with every second. Then Ibou spoke.

 “Magatte, do you know why no one is here?”

“No.”

He drew me outside and pointed up. “Do you see those power lines? When it rains, they come down, and people get killed. The workers know it’s not safe for them to come to work.” 

He talked gently, but I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. 

It suddenly made sense. My employees didn’t have cars, so getting to work would have meant slogging through wet, electrified streets. I might as well have been signing their death warrants. 

In my eyes, they hadn’t put work first. In their eyes, no job was worth losing their lives over. And they were so right.

I can’t tell you how ashamed I felt—and still feel—telling you this story now. I had lived in the West for so many years that I had picked up certain ideas and attitudes without realizing it. 

My workers weren’t lazy. They weren’t apathetic about their own jobs. They were concerned for their own safety, and my own prejudices had kept me from considering their well-being. 

I was the ignorant one in this situation. Not them. 

I learned an important lesson that day: If African Diaspora entrepreneurs want to succeed in Africa, we must stay humble. 

We have been fed a lifetime of propaganda and stereotypes about Africa—and none of it makes our businesses better. 

Magatte Wade, founder of Skin Is Skin

I love my Africa. I believe in Africa. I’ve made it my life’s mission to fight for Africa’s prosperity. 

But I had still subconsciously accepted the idea that our people didn’t measure up somehow. 

We must overcome the false stories we’ve absorbed and remember that our people are brave, strong, resilient, creative, practical, and innovative.

Do we have many people who do not respect time, cut corners, lie and cheat? Yes, like everywhere else around the world. But to suggest, de facto, that those are our dominant attributes only generates lies and stereotypes.

We have been fed a lifetime of propaganda and stereotypes about Africa—and none of it will make our businesses better. We must seek out local knowledge and work closely with people who see the world through different eyes.
—Magatte Wade

In addition, we may have cultural differences that make business both beautiful and challenging sometimes. But instead of giving in to the friction and allowing knee-jerk reactions to take control, we must stay humble and grateful for what we can learn and achieve in the process. 

We must seek out local knowledge and work closely with people who see the world through different eyes.

I would never have been able to do what I was able to do back home if I didn’t lean into my local team members. Ibou, especially, has been a Godsend.

Africa is not the West. Africa is Africa.

It is a continent spilling over with natural resources, talent, and wisdom. It deserves to be taken on its own terms, even by those of us who are part of the African Diaspora. 

The sooner we can get there, the sooner we’ll be able to create the booming economy that we all know is possible—an economy that fosters innovation, security, and long-term improvements for our people. 

Are you willing to be humble with me?