My African Safari.....

After working in various sectors in India for last 19 years in HR, I took the plunge of moving to Africa last year. After spending more than a year in Africa and travelling to various countries thought of sharing some of my Africa experiences.

The continent and its people are just awesome. One thing I quickly realised that you can't paint all the countries with one brush. Nigeria is different from Kenya, Kenya is different from Rwanda, and Rwanda is different Burkina Faso. By interacting with people knowing their culture, you broaden your horizon of appreciating subtle cultural sensitivities. Every country is different the cultures are different and societies are at various stages of evolution.

One common factor that I saw across is people are genuinely concerned about the society you are living in, you will find every individual, member of one NGO or another and they religiously spend time in doing voluntary social work. From an HR point of view, in this part of the world benefits do play a bigger role than pure salary. What you are doing for me is important but what are you doing for others in case of medical, death etc. is more important.

The other learning I saw in some countries is a high sense of customer orientation & discipline. The courteousness, mannerism etc. displayed are of a high order. There would be many numbers of expats working in Africa and cultural sensitisation is important. Talking in loud voices is seen as people are fighting with each other, table manners are important, one needs to focus on one thing at a time. "Can do" approach is fine but doing a quality job is more important.

People in this part of the world want to learn, you will not be surprised if you are seeing people enrolling themselves to various courses to enhance their knowledge/skills. I have not seen much success of e-learning in India but I think e-learning has a great future in Africa.

I see lot of youngsters aiming to become budding entrepreneurs. It’s a matter of recognising and supporting their ideas……and who knows the next Apple, Microsoft emerges from Africa.

I had come with a mind-set that “impatience is a virtue” but now I am willing to learn that “patience can also be a virtue”!

The world may be talking of Asia but I am convinced that the future belongs to Africa and the growth of economy will be faster than anticipated!

For HR professionals I think it’s important to do a multi-country experience, it broadens your horizon, you see things from a different perspective and 70% of your learning comes from experience. Learning French would also come handy as you have Anglophone & Francophone countries in Africa.

And the Safari continues……….