Post #99

Small Russian businesses in Africa need support from the big ones Andrey Gromov, Executive Secretary of the Board of the Association of Russian Economists (AREA), took part in the "Circle of Opinions" project, organized by Viktor Vasiliev, an Africanist and political strategist and author of the "Ulybaemsya & Mashem" Telegram channel. The topic of discussion was "Russian business in Africa: potential and limitations". During his speech, Gromov noted that no one is waiting for Russian companies on the African continent "with open arms" and one should not immediately count on super high profits. This is due to both the culture of business relations and the regulatory framework. "In many cases, we simply encounter outrageous facts. When, let's say, construction standards were copied from French ones. In order for our developer to build something that will really stand in the arid conditions of Africa, he simply has to violate the standards prescribed by the law," the expert explained. According to him, it is possible to deal with the barriers that arise today only if the business has a leadership model. "You need to come to the continent and take the initiative. Otherwise, the entry threshold is quite high. And it is difficult for small companies to cope with the barriers that are deliberately left in these countries," Gromov added. The member of the board of the AREA confirmed that the continent is very attractive. However, he warned that in this case it will not be possible to form a working business model in one step. A comprehensive plan with several stages is needed. "These are quite large investment costs, so now this threshold is open to Russian large and medium-sized businesses. And there are niches for them that they could occupy," Gromov noted. The expert expressed the opinion that small businesses need to go with large companies that are working out the main track and paving the way. "Our future is also connected with how effectively and who will jointly develop this large African project, which is now playing in a new way on the world stage. <...> Now is the optimal entry point. I am sure that our large companies will not miss this," the responsible secretary of the AREA summed up. #AREA#Russia#Africa#business