At Business Insider Lawrence Delevingne has a lengthy expose on the realities of at least one major company’s attempt to do business in Senegal. From Delevingne’s intro paragraphs:
For entrepreneurs, Africa represents the last great open market.
The upsides can be tremendous. Tens of billions of dollars from around the world, especially China, have gone into tapping the continent’s rich natural resources, especially oil and minerals, and expanding basic infrastructure, like Internet and cell phone service.
The IMF estimates that sub-Saharan Africa’s economies will expand 4.3% in 2010 and 5.5% in 2011, more than 1% higher than the global average. Indeed, eight of the 20 fastest growing economies are African, including Angola (9%) and Republic of Congo (12%).
But then there’s the downside.
Even investments in relatively stable, democratic countries — the “good” ones — come with significant obstacles, especially corruption and political meddling. The story of Millicom International Cellular’s battle with secret demands from senior-level Senegalese officials shows just how tough it can be.
And remember — historically, Senegal does not suffer from the Big Man syndrome that usually fuels state-level graft and practically promotes bureaucracy-by-kleptocracy.
