Recently, I had the pleasure of exchanging dialogue with a world renowned author who has written two popular books about entrepreneurship in Africa. His name is David S. Fick. Because this interview is so detailed and filled to the brim with facts and information, the interview is broken into two parts. The first part we are premiering here on beninmwangi.com. The second half, which provides instruction from Mr. Fick on how you can participate in the launch of his upcoming book will be premiered on the African Path.
About David S. Fick Fick is the author of Entrepreneurship in Africa: A Study of Successes and is currently researching his third book, African Entrepreneurs in the 21st Century, which will feature examples of African entrepreneurs who have demonstrated visionary and strategic entrepreneurial leadership across the continent. Fick generously donates all author’s royalties due to him from the sale of his first – and this, his second – book to Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in support of their medical relief projects in Africa and will do the same when his third book is published.
Source: STE Publishers What inspired you to become an author and begin writing about Africa’s entrepreneurs?
My wife and I were guests of the people of Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia for two weeks in August 2000. We found ourselves impressed by the beauty of Africa and the hospitality of its people. The Ethiopia of 2000 reminded me of South Korea as it was in 1962 and 1963 when I had the pleasure of serving in Korea as a lieutenant with the U.S. Army’s Transportation Corps. Our suppliers were from the private sector in South Korea, and it was the local entrepreneurs who became the engines of growth for the future development of South Korea. Having graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1961 and having spent my business career (1964–1988) as an entrepreneur in Kansas, I found myself becoming interested in the opportunities for entrepreneurs in Africa. Upon returning to the United States, I began researching for this study. In my search for successful entrepreneurs in Africa, I became aware of the opportunities and roadblocks that the cultural, economic, social, political, and physical environments provide in Africa. This newfound awareness has led me to search for actual or proposed projects and policy changes that are or could be of great benefit for the people of Africa and the entrepreneurial environment.
In 1870 my grandfather came over from Europe, which gave my father the chance to succeed in this land of opportunity. My father, Rudy Fick, was associated with the Ford Motor Company first as a manager, and then as a dealer, for his entire business career. He told my brothers and me the story of how in 1914 Henry Ford began paying his workers $5 per eight-hour day, so that they were soon able to buy a Model T Ford ($295) with sixty days of wages. The other manufacturers thought he was crazy for paying so much. Ford replied that it was the workers of America who would provide the market for his cars and that they should be paid accordingly. My father was 42 in 1941 and too old to serve in World War II, and therefore Henry Ford put him to work keeping the Ford dealership network viable during the war, when new cars were unavailable. After the war, my father became an entrepreneur as a Ford dealer in Kansas City. He used to promise his managers that if they excelled he would help finance them in their own dealerships. Many managers became dealers by buying my father out with their share of the profits from the Ford dealerships that my father created or acquired for them to manage.
Currently, America is at last progressively becoming the land of more equal opportunity for all Americans. In Africa, entrepreneurial opportunities are getting better for Africans, Arabs, Europeans, Asians, and Americans, but these opportunities are still not nearly what they could be. Hopefully, in the future, continued and even greater improvements will be made in Africa’s entrepreneurial and social environment.
Has your career as an entrepreneur has given you any special advantages that perhaps some of your counterparts with economic backgrounds may lack when it comes to writing about the same topic?
I am interested in the day to day operations of small to large businesses. I take a micro-economic approach.
Are you still active as an entrepreneur today?
I invest wisely in the stock market. I wish I had as easy access to the emerging countries’ stock markets as I do the American stock market, however, I do invest in international mutual funds.
I read somewhere that you have traveled to 33 countries in six continents, how did you become such an avid traveler?
My wife and I have traveled extensively in the last twenty years, especially by rental car in European countries and staying at small inns and bed and breakfasts (B and B’s).
Was the trip to Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia in 2000 your first trip to Africa? Besides these countries which other parts of Africa have you visited? How long do you normally stay there? What were your overall impressions?
It was our first and only trip to Africa. Since 2000, I Have corresponded extensively throughout Africa and have researched the books African Entrepreneurship, A Study of Successes (2002) Africa Continent of Economic Opportunity (2006), and presently, African Entrepreneurs in the 21st Century (2008).
Why are you so optimistic about Africa’s future?
I remain optimistic about the future. Everywhere I researched and corresponded, I learned how small businesses are creating jobs, transforming economies, and improving the quality of life in the communities.
How do you respond to the skeptics and critics who say that Africa is not a place to do business?
I am a student of the African Entrepreneurs who are successful doing business in their African community, and frequently as they expand, in other African and world markets.
Do you consider yourself an advocate for African entrepreneurship or an author who writes about it?
I advocate it by writing about it so that people can share their ideas and successes with others.
What do you think is spurring the growing interest in bringing about Africa’s further development?
The opportunities that are available within the continent of Africa.
To learn more about this author, visit Benin Mwangi's Website.
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Benin Mwangi
(Visit Benin's Website)
A credit analyst by profession, Benin
Mwangi is one of the world's foremost
experts on the topic of entrepreneurship
in Africa. He is the founder of Benin
Mwangi Enterprises, a consulting firm that
specializes in promoting trade in Africa
as a means to achieve self-empowerment and
community development. His blog, BeninMwangi
.com, serves as one of the most
popular online destinations for those
looking to learn about and discuss
business and entrepreneurship in Africa.
He is also a regular contributor to Global
Voices Online and Kenya Empowerment News.
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