Research Areas

The research group Doing Business in Africa aims to make the opportunities in Sub-Saharan African markets transparent and to identify ways in which companies can make use of these opportunities. The research aims to help understand and promote the engagement of German, European and local companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is on the activities of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in the markets of Sub-Saharan Africa. Typical questions of the research group include:

• What must a promising go-to-market approach look like so that SMEs in particular can do profitable business in the markets of Sub-Saharan Africa under the given business conditions?
• What are the internal and external characteristics when SMEs want to become active in Sub-Saharan Africa?
• What do relevant business models look like?
• What are the operational success factors for doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa that take into account the characteristics (e.g., size) of SMEs?