Entering the Africa market

• Date: 01 January 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22184
• Published date: 01 January 2021
• Author: Mary B. Teagarden

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Entering the Africa market

Readers, welcome to a new year! We begin this new year with consid-

erable anticipation of good things to come beginning with this issue

that focuses on the many and nuanced aspects of market entry into

Africa. The remaining issues on the drawing board are all equally at

the forefront of global business dynamics—how industries are chang-

ing and which often overlooked countries are coming into serious

play. We will consider the changing and evolving role that technology

and the Fourth Industrial Revolution have to play in these dynamics.

We will also explore approaches to solving the world's wicked

problems—poverty, climate change, and global pandemics among

numerous others.

We are leading this volume with a focus on Africa—the epitome

of hyperdynamic business growth in at least five of their 54 countries.

At the same time, Africa is the poorest continent in the world. We are

delighted to provide opportunity for our readers to deepen their

understanding of Africa and African global business dynamics. We are

sincerely grateful to Nnamdi Oguji and Richard Owusu for curating

this Special Issue, and to the numerous authors from Africa and

around the world for so generously sharing their insights.

Guest Editors Oguji and Owusu begin the issue with an introduc-

tion focusing on market entry strategies—how foreign firms enter

Africa; challenges and solutions associated with these strategies; and

foreign firm performance. This guest editorial provides a summary of

the issues' articles and a book review. These have been categorized

into three broad thematic issues: international joint ventures and

acquisitions as market entry strategies in Africa; cross-border invest-

ments of African firms; and theoretical underpinnings.

The second article by Nnamdi Oguji, William Degbey, and Richard

Owusu is a study of international joint ventures in Africa. The article

concludes with a conceptual framework and propositions to guide

future research. The third article, by Saileshsingh Gunessee and

Shuang Hu, focuses on Chinese cross-border mergers and acquisitions

in Africa. We would be remiss if we did not discuss this topic—it is

essential to our understanding of Africa's development. They conclude

that cross-border mergers and acquisitions in Africa are significantly

different from those in other emerging market regions.

The fourth article, by Sanjay Dhir, Rishabh Rajan, Viout

Ongasakul, Richard Owusu, and Zafar Ahmed, focuses on a specific

high-tech sector, the African telecom market. Through this lens the

authors identify critical success factors that determine cross-border

acquisition performance. The fifth article, by Samuel Adomako,

Kwabena Frimpong, Riaz Muhammad, Robert Opoku, and Rifaqat

Husain, focuses on the rule of law and foreign entry mode choice in

small and medium size enterprises in Ghana. The next article, by Wil-

liam Degbey, Taina Eriksson, Peter Rogers, and Nnamdi Oguji, flips

the lens and explores how African emerging market multinationals can

develop the dynamic capabilities needed for cross-border merger and

acquisition success.

We conclude this issue with a review that looks at Africa's rich

diversity, economic disparities, political strife, and ongoing develop-

ment. The reviewers, Ebes Esho and Lyal White, conclude with the

advice that understanding Africa's business history in a sociopolitical

and cultural context enhances both business strategy and day-to-day

operations.

The articles in this issue provide insight and understanding of

contemporary global business dynamics in Africa. I have enjoyed each

article. I, along with managing editor, Suzy Howell, thoroughly enjoyed

shepherding this issue from concept to completion. Again, thank you

Nnamdi Oguji and Richard Owusu for giving us this opportunity. Dear

readers I hope you enjoy this issue.

Best wishes for a peaceful, prosperous, and healthy new year!

Mary B. Teagarden

Email: mary.teagarden@thunderbird.asu.edu

DOI: 10.1002/tie.22184

Thunderbird Int. Bus. Rev. 2021;63:3. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/tie © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. 3