PwC strategist: How to bridge the gap between strategy and execution
You’ve expanded your business in Africa. You’ve produced a watertight strategy. But how do you secure continent-wide success? This question remains largely unanswered the among those growing businesses in Africa. According to Strategy& (PwC’s strategy consulting company) as many as 66 percent of business expansions into Africa resulted in negative shareholder returns.
To find the answers, African Business Review quizzed strategy specialist Jorge Camarate. Camarate is Partner at Strategy&. He has spent 12 years consulting across the globe, but has now settled in Johannesburg to advise clients in business strategy. As part of his role, Camarate gives companies tips on how to bridge the strategy-to-execution gap in Africa. We ask him to share his guidelines with us.
Acknowledge that Africa is not a country
Rather, Africa is made up of 54 diverse countries. According to Camarate, many large Western companies fail to recognise this, instead viewing Africa as a homogenous hub. This perception is “quite prevalent, especially if you talk to companies outside Africa, like multinationals in Europe, the States, or Asia”, Camarate explains. “There are multiple realities that people struggle to understand, like how different two countries can be and the slight nuances that can make a business either very successful or impossible to grow.”
