Some ideal types

Let us now look globally at the phenomenon of business enterprise without distinguishing "sectors", since we have indicated that the distinction between formal sector and popular economy is not relevant. In Africa, business management is embedded in the culture and, in turn, this culture is fundamentally hybrid. This new African culture is a mixture. One strand in it is western and relates to the values, norms and modes of modernity. They do not need to be described here. The other strand is traditional and African. We now need to identify it.

A double preliminary remark is necessary. One relates to the generalization on the African continent; there undoubtedly exist many differences between Maghreb and Black Africa, between Central and West Africa, etc. Still, there are a number of important common points which justify a global look on the entire continent. The present synthesis deals with so-called French-Speaking Africa and therefore ignores a large part of the continent. Another preliminary remark : none of the cultural traits we will now describe escape historicity and remain static. They evolve. Still, a number of things remain constant. Although they are intertwined with western modernity, it is possible to recognize them.

Cosmocentrism

Among the cultural traits derived from tradition there is a tendency to submit to the ancestral divine order. It may be exaggerated to think about fatalism, still it remains true that mastery over nature and over time, as well as sudden radical changes are not very much appraised. There is a tendency to conservatism. Similarly, individual originality is not appraised. In fact, originality like individualism not only expose to criticism for having being disrespectful to the traditional group order, but may also lead to sanction by the group (rejection, ostracism, or threat of sorcery etc). In a general sense, the African is cosmocentric, he sees himself as a constitutive element of the universe like nature itself, and not as a superior being or as a reference in the middle of it all (homocentrism). His calling is therefore to live harmoniously with both the natural and human environment. He is called upon to be part of the environment (holism) and not to master and to exploit it (dualism).

This monistic concept of a cosmic and social harmony leads to a normative moral order dominated by the image of the father (ancestor) who checks the exercise of individual freedom, which on the contrary is upheld so strongly in Euro-American culture.

Primacy of the group

Primacy of the group over the individual is a result of what has just been said. The individual is vertically linked to the ancestors, spirits and the gods (God) and is linked horizontally to the others kinship, lineage, clan, tribe, community, group. Each individual takes care of the interest of the group, shares its ideas and belief and receives in exchange its protection. Africa is opposed to individual promotion unless it serves the entire group. There is no egalitarianism in this notion but rather vertical solidarity where the social elder can climb up as long as he shares the benefits of his success with his juniors. Communitarian society does not mean a society of equals nor a free society. Hierarchy and collective pressures are strong and weigh heavily (P. Muamba, G. Dokou). One author even refers to this as "communal totalitarianism".

Elastic notion of time

There flows from what was said here a perception of time that is not merely linear and utilitarian ("time is money") but rather cyclical, immeasurable and certainly not related to notions of efficiency, punctuality and provision, long-term provision appears senseless or even beyond the prerogatives of man still this does not exclude foresight. One should deepen the difference between African foresight and Western provision, along the lines developed by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu.

Search of consensus

The African approach to time, combined with the need for harmony in the group, leads to the practice of lengthy, discussions where progressive seeking of a consensus is preferred to the hasty decision-making. The latter may be efficient but may also be costly in terms of social standing and harmony. As opposed to consensus, the vote hurts the pride and interest of the minority, while authoritarian decisions create frustrations (G. Dokou, I. Sibide). Conviviality must override efficiency.

Economy of affection

Another fundamental trait of African culture is the importance of interpersonal relations, heavily charged with affections and emotions. African life consists of warm relations where reciprocity plays a role but also social prestige (not necessarily linked to a bank account). Each individual aspires to recognition. It is the great "chief" spirit. Profitability is not to be disconnected from human considerations dimension. The abstract norms in the Western tradition, the anonymous relations in labor are distasteful. The relational overrides the rational ! He who succeeds must use his success to help the others, beginning with the members of his group. He who forgets this norm will be treated as a "white black" (nègre blanc) and would be irremediably excluded, which would lead to his social death.
The notion of profit is not absent. For the majority of Africans, however, the profit ethos is strongly conditioned by social and political factors, irrespective of his/her level of responsibility.

In point of fact, striving for material profit and individual promotion were never completely absent in Africa, e.g. among the Bamileke of Cameroon, the Ashanti of Ghana, the Ibo of Nigeria or the Kamba of Kenya. Indeed, social mobility and financial success are encouraged, and dynamism and competition are not sanctioned in these particular cultures as in the rest of Africa. (P. Muamba).

Redistribution rather than savings

In Africa, reports Mamadou Dia, the only wealth is that which is shared with and rendered visible to the community. There is a need to spend which explains, for example, the slaughter of 750 cattles during the circumcision celebration in the Diola tribe in Senegal. There is an absence of the "bourgeois ethos" and of the spirit of capitalism.

Accumulation and savings raise suspiscion in Africa because they are associated with greed, a vice much despised. Thus saving is often made impossible due to the social constraint which impose transfers e.g. from city to village. Self-discipline and propensity to save appraised by puritanical morality are hardly appreciated.

Prodigality and not calculation is appreciated. This explains the frequent ostentations expenditures and often "exorbitant" celebrations. These of course are only "exorbitant and costly" in the eyes of the outside observer who calculates from a financial point of view. The African perspective considers prestige, power and social recognition as more important. That is why gifts are so important and why individual saving is despicable.

The Search for security

It seems that the quest for security is to be considered a central characteristic of African culture. People have to guard not only against natural uncertainties as, say, seasonal famine, but also against the ill-will of spirits and neighbours. The aversion to risk, the redistribution of wealth, the stability of social networks and of "relational rationality", the development of "tontines" (traditional saving schemes) and other mechanism of mutual assistance, paternalism as a mode of authority, all these African cultural traits appear to be based on the fundamental search for security.

The material constraints of the crises

It is obvious that the economic crisis in Africa has had a crippling impact on the traditional or the neo-traditional mechanisms mentioned above. The communal spirit which characterizes the African finds its origins rooted in the existence of a relatively autarkic subsistence economy of yesteryear. Generosity and prodigality were possi- ble when a relative material security existed. But today, are these reflexes not overburden up to a breaking point ? One sees individualism and hard struggle for conquest of minimal survival surface as well as clever manipulation of communal reflexes in the service of individual material interests.
The cultural mix between Western values and traditional/neo-traditional elements constitutes today's African culture. It permeates the enterprise. Let us now deal with some elements which play a role in the life of an enterprise and in its management : the approach to profit, work, tools, authority, personnel (hiring, promotion, resolution of conflicts).