Understanding Africa: Doing business successfully in South Africa
Our last news-story on South Africa was titled along the song-title of Johnny Clegg’s: “The
Scatterlings of Africa”. Given the richness and differences within one country of the African
continent South Africa it is very difficult to describe “one way” of doing business
successfully. In fact there are reams of facets which are linked to success or failure. In the
following we would like to introduce some of these facets to you. We will do this through
exciting and in depth experiences of two business men as well as though fascinating stories
about and pictures of the people of South Africa.
Successful through niches and partners
Günther Hadsbjerg has been doing business in South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and East
Africa for more than 40 years. Originally from Denmark, he lives with a foot in both Europe
and Africa, and feels at home in both continents. As an engineer he has been working mainly
in the area of electrical and mechanical consulting and engineering, and has headed up his
own company, Transnational Technologies PTY (Ltd) since 1987, now specialising in energy
efficient solutions. The entrepreneurial spirit has always been in him, so even when he was
facing challenges, he always managed to find a way to overcome the obstacle. He is a master
of "thinking outside the box".
Günther Hadsbjergs condensed summary, after 40 years in business: “Each sector of the
economy has its own opportunities and barriers, but common for all foreign companies
wanting to do business in SA is the challenge of obtaining a work or resident permit.”
”Although it is relatively inexpensive to establish a business identity, it is difficult to enter the
marketplace without having the necessary Affirmative Action credentials - a government
policy that focuses on boosting black economic empowerment.”
Hadsbjerg adds: “I have found for my own company that we have had to specialise within
niche markets in order to be successful, because as a small, white-owned business there are no
business opportunities within the public sector.”
”An effective way to be successful in today's South Africa is to find suitable joint venture
partners with whom skills and know how can be combined with strict government business
policies,” closes Günther Hadsbjerg.
Key success factor: cross-cultural understanding
In addition to the right positioning and choosing the right partner, successful business people
need in depth cross-cultural understanding. Murray de Villiers, another of our experts of
doing business successfully in South Africa consults you, that if you want to develop
sustainable success in South Africa you should first and foremost understand the different
cultures in this region. “It is not unusual to have at least four of the more than sixteen different
cultures present in a meeting”, he explains. “Simple formalities, such as the appropriate
handshake for a specific culture, can smooth the proceedings of an important meeting”.
Observing issues such as direct eye contact, age hierarchy, directness, assertiveness, gestures,
gifts, first name usage and method of disagreement are important to business success.
“The South African regulatory environment has very specific requirements and processes in
terms of tax, socio-economic development, skills development, equity ownership,
management demography and preferential procurement, all of which can be successfully
leveraged towards business success, “ summarizes de Villiers.
Who is South Africa? 27 portraits of remarkable people
Another connoisseur of the South African country and its people is Line Hadsbjerg (link to
Line’s profile), another member of our team of experts. Hadsbjerg just published her book:
Remarkable South Africans in which she features interviews with 27 South African
individuals. The book tries to capture the best of the human spirit, featuring individuals across
the spectrum of arts, sports, politics, cultures and race. From great visionaries like Archbishop
Tutu, through to the “everyday giants” who within their own small communities have
impacted humanity.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Evelina Tshabalala
A marathon runner who has committed
her life to uplifting the children in her
community through sports
Redi Direko
Current affairs presenter on Talk Radio
702 and 567 Cape Talk
The book features some outstanding pictures by photographer Pep Bonet, one of the world’s
best humanitarian photographers, presenting the individuals featured and their environment
through powerful portraits.
It is a pleasure to warmly inviting you to have a look at Lines Blog as well as Pep’s photos
and encourage you to buy a great book, which will introduce you to a country in a very
different but “real” way.
A shack in the township of Khayelitsha
A student in her final year of school in rural KwazuluNatal
A more in-depth insight into Lines research and the process of writing the book is
documented in her blog.
More photos from the Remarkable South Africans series can be seen here.
A child laughs in the loving arms of a day care worker in
the Khayelitsha township
Trevor Manuel – Parliamanet building, Pretoria
South Africa’s longest serving Finance Minister. Under
the precidency of Jacob Zuma he holds office as Head og
the Planning Commission
If you seek for support of doing business in South Africa, please send us an e-mail or give us
a call +49. (0)6221 – 735 1371. We are looking forward in supporting you to make your
business endeavour in South Africa successful.