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Brand Africa and Sustainable Development: Evidence from the Field

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Private Sector Development in West Africa

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Abstract

The concept of brand Africa is floated by diverse social actors in academia, international institutions, mainstream media and social media networks, with a myriad of views on what it is being exchanged. Moreover, brands are only ‘brands’ on the condition that they generate some form of socio-cultural or economic value for distinct stakeholders, yet there is lack of clarity regarding the significance of brand Africa within a global context. At the same time, place brands are increasingly considered to be alternative models for promoting development. In view of these observations, our work seeks to define brand Africa and its role in facilitating the continent’s sustainable development from a diasporan perspective—The African diaspora is globally the largest, most visible and active social group engaging with the continent as manifest on the World Wide Web. Applying the paradigm of social construction, netnography and semi-structured interviews to address our research objectives, we discover that: (I) Brand Africa is a people-centred construct which represents notions about African citizens and what they are perceived as collectively doing locally by the diaspora; (II) Furthermore, as the ‘brand’, Africans are collectively the principal drivers of sustainable development through the private sector across the continent, and based on human capital. Our research is deemed relevant through its articulation of the interdependencies between brand Africa, private sector, human capital and sustainable development, in a pattern that locates people at the centre of the analysis, and potentially informs policy formulation and implementation for the continent’s sustainable progress.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The definition was outlined in the report ‘Our Common Future’, which is commonly referred to as the Brundtland report, named after the then Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland who chaired the WCED meeting addressing the complex interdependence between the environment, social and economic development, and which led to the production of the report (Elliot 1994, 2006).

  2. 2.

    In particular, the following countries have bigger private sectors as compared to the rest of Africa: Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Niger, Senegal and Togo in western Africa; Cameroon and the Republic of Congo, in central Africa; Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and Mauritius in Eastern Africa. On the other hand, smaller private sectors are found in the oil exporting countries: Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Libya and Nigeria; and Burundi, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Sao Tome e Principe which are all some of the continent’s poorest countries; as well as Zambia and Botswana in Southern Africa (Stampini et al. 2013).

  3. 3.

    Based on Osemeke’s (2011, p. 184) review

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Penelope Muzanenhamo

Authors
  1. Penelope Muzanenhamo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Penelope Muzanenhamo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CREPOL - Center for Research on Political Economy, Dakar, Senegal

    Diery Seck

Appendices

Appendix 1

Brand Africa on Facebook and Youtube (Available 15 June 2013)

Appendix 2

Personification of Africa

  • Why does Africa FAIL at life?

  • Who is to blame for Africa's failure

  • Are you embarrassed/humiliated by Africa

  • Should Africa change its name, to what?

  • Is Africa on its way to beat USA

  • The Motherland

Appendix 3

Barriers to private sector developmentFootnote 3

  • Lack of access to funds financial and capital markets

  • Lack of, and deteriorating, infrastructure

  • Low consumer purchasing power

  • Poor/low quality products

  • High cost of physical capital

  • Multiple levies and taxes

  • Dumping of cheap imports on local markets

  • Complex, less transparent and unpredictable legal/policy framework

  • High imports which creates competitions for local enterprises

  • Poor managerial and entrepreneurial skills

  • Poor governance structures

  • Non-conducive macro-environment

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Muzanenhamo, P. (2014). Brand Africa and Sustainable Development: Evidence from the Field. In: Seck, D. (eds) Private Sector Development in West Africa. Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05188-8_8

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