Professor Mahajan provides an excellent exposition of the emerging opportunities for businesses in the continent of Africa. The research conducted by Professor Mahajan is very thorough and meticulous with many examples and firsthand accounts of the way markets operate in Africa.

The main thesis of the book argues the importance of businesses to create markets in order to tap the large latent demand in Africa. Professor Mahajan clearly articulates that the creation of markets requires firms to innovate their business model i.e., the way revenues are generated and captured as well as the accompanying operational structure. Firms would need to be innovative in their products, pricing, distribution and methods of promotion in order to overcome challenges ranging from emerging infrastructure to the absence of legal frameworks. In short, the book argues that African markets are not `plug and play' markets but require firms to think about and to put in the missing pieces of the puzzle. Prof. Mahajan provides interesting examples of how firms such as Hanouti, Novartis and Unilever managed to complete the missing pieces of the puzzle by various initiatives such as offering credit to creating new distribution systems where none existed. The book also provides interesting examples of African ingenuity via innovation and tendency to leapfrog to overtake other markets. For example, one of the most innovative projects was provided by a non-profit organization, Roundabout, which created a playpump that harnesses the energy from a children's merry-go-round to pump water for rural Africa. In addition, an example of leapfroging via the provision of infrastructure is demonstrated by the provision of citywide unrestricted Wifi/Wimax in Freetown, Sierra Leone which is only the third city in the world to have such a service after Philadelphia and Taipei.

The book is an eye opener to the growing influence of the opportunities provided by the large future middle class of Africa. Professor Mahajan makes a compelling case for firms not only to create markets but also to nurture the growth of these markets to create profitable businesses whilst contributing to the development of Africa. In addition, what is also clear is the burgeoning confidence of the African people where Professor Mahajan aptly borrows from the popular Hindi movie `Chak de India' (You can do it, India!) to illustrate the up and coming `Chak De Africa'!

This is a book that identifies Africa's business and growth potential and illustrates it innovatively and intelligently. It is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the shifting economic power in the world and in particular the opportunities in Africa. I recommend it very strongly.

Great book because:
1. it offers a prospective on Africa that looks beyond the stereotypes to show a reality that is quite the opposite of the common representations
2. it really touches and mentions a ton of facts from the news and other public information, in addition to some personal research and interviews
3. it is very honest in stating its marketing view, not political or economic

On the negative side it is horribly written and organized, superficial in many aspects, probably put together too quickly. Especially the first 50 and so pages would be a great text for a motivational speech but they make for a very poor reading experience. Ten pages of cheer leading would have been more than enough for me.
Personally I would have appreciated a more structured and quantitative approach.
Moreover, despite the author is well aware of the big bite he is trying to chew, I still believe that it is impossible to handle north Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as one, not to mention the East coast with strong ties to the middle east.
Finally, my dissatisfaction probably lies in the fundamental "fuzziness" of the marketing approach, which in this case does not make the reading enjoyable in itself and at the same time does not provide the serious meat that makes you grow.
It is an excellent wake-up call for those who need it but I expect much more to be written on this topic, hopefully very soon.

Some things are so obvious that we forget them in our rush to make assumptions. Professor Mahajan reminds us of the essential of marketing in an inspiring ride through the African business-scape: know your customer, solve their problems, give people a reason to like your brand. Most importantly, he provides some evidence that viewing Africa as a single, monolithic entity permits the bad news about failed states to overshadow the nations where opportunity does lie.

That said, the political and security realities can't be ignored. One of the things I noted about one of the most prominent success stories -- cell phones and their transformation into a form of currency -- represents a profit center that is difficult to steal or nationalize. The cell phones themselves are cheap and dispersed; the cell towers represent a comparatively limited physical infrastructure. Attempt to nationalize (steal) the cell phone service and the company owners can kill the enabling software with a switch. The money transfers occur in the ether -- so revenues are harder to steal, too.

Hard goods have to get from Point A to Point B. Laundry soap probably doesn't much interest pirates or road gangs, but more valuable goods will. Until the logistics lines can be secured, there's an upper limit to what can be developed.

Still, I'm kind of nitpicking here. There are other resources to study African political and security issues, and they'll give you plenty of reasons not to engage in the market. Africa Rising looks past that to see where the opportunities and the future lies. There's plenty of food for thought for business development.

Vijay Mahajan, global business consultant and former dean of the India School of Business, believes that Africa has a great deal of talent, ambition, and 900 million consumers to offer companies willing to invest, and he presents those opportunities in "Africa Rising", a look at the state of business and consumerism on a continent too often dismissed by Western enterprise. He sees in Africa a socio-economic landscape similar to India's a few decades ago. In fact, Indian businesses, with their connections to Africa from colonial days, are jumping into these emerging markets, as are the Chinese, whose presence in Africa is so great that it would hardly be an exaggeration to say they are underwriting the industrialization of the continent. While some large Western companies have successfully navigated the varied markets of Africa, many are apprehensive. Mahajan paints a picture of the types of opportunities that are there for both foreign investors and African entrepreneurs.

"Africa Rising" is divided into two parts: The first presents the African opportunities in a broad sense and introduces us to those hundreds of millions of consumers, who they are, where they are, and what they want. The second part examines opportunities in particular industries, with many examples of how businesses have successfully reached African consumers and what may lie ahead. Since there is a tendency to believe that business opportunity is confined to South Africa and North Africa, Mahajan takes care to talk about the nations in between. He discusses the "informal economies" as well as the documented numbers, how companies flourish in religiously diverse countries, and focuses a lot on Africa Two, the 350-500 million people who are Africa's working class and future middle class. This is not to the exclusion of Africa One, the elite, or Africa Three, the peasants, but the author does see a lot of opportunity in the immediately up-and-coming.

"Africa Rising" primarily offers examples of exactly how companies big and small have found markets and success across the continent: organizing informal markets, providing infrastructure, youth markets, media and entertainment, catering to the expatriate diaspora, and more. These stories are thought-provoking and offer insight into how people live in Africa today. Mahajan does acknowledge some of Africa's well-known problems: land-locked countries with inadequate infrastructure, corruption and short-sighted laws, periodic political instability, the "brain drain" of Africa's capable young professionals leaving for Europe and the US. This book may understate the problems, because its purpose is to show the prospects. Not every company would have the ability to surmount infrastructure problems, for example, but there are markets to be found at different levels of sophistication. "Africa Rising" is useful for anyone contemplating business in the third world, and, even if you're not, this is a welcome alternative to the picture of Africa as a charity case.

"Africa Rising" is full of interesting information about life in Africa today, and the business climate there. The book mentions but does not dwell on the problems that confront Africa, from crime to war to hyperinflation. Indeed, the author himself relates a tale of being held at gunpoint. But to dwell on problems is to miss the fact that businesses and entrepreneurs across the continent are doing their best to overcome the difficult problems there. The book focuses on those people, and is generally upbeat and optimistic, perhaps a little too optimistic. At times it comes across a little cheerleader-y. Nonetheless, "Africa Rising" provides a look at the Africa that isn't in the headlines every day. Anyone interested in Africa, whether in business terms or otherwise, would enjoy this book.