1. Welcome to the Evisors Webinar
Visit us online at www.evisors.com
Careers in Africa
featuring
Mambi Madzivire
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2. Careers in Africa
About Mambi
Why Work in Africa?
Why Not Work in Africa?
Types of Organizations
Finding the Job
Landing the Job
Keep in Mind
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3. About Mambi
• MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
(2011)
• PhD, Mayo Clinic (2009)
• Variety of work experiences
– Medical equipment repair training initiative in El
Salvador
– Distribution strategy for a start-up medical device
company in India
– Independent consulting in Human Centered Design
in the U.S. and Zimbabwe
– Private equity operations in Liberia and Nigeria
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4. Why Work in Africa?
• Hard working, driven people
• Creativity and innovation abounds
– necessity really is the mother of invention
• Young, growing population
• Growing business opportunities
– there are many challenges, and the solution space is
still quite open
• Small contributions can have a big impact
• Tremendous learning opportunities
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5. Why Not Work in Africa?
• You may have to give up/work harder/pay more
for things that are taken for granted
– reliable internet
– constant electricity supply
– certain types of food
• Cost of living can be high
– rent
– fuel/utilities
• If you have a low tolerance for
– change
– relationship based culture
– inefficiency
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6. Types of Organizations
• Non profit/NGO
• Public Sector
– government advisory
• For profit
– large multinationals (e.g. GE, Unilever, Nokia, Barclays, Google)
– pan-African (e.g. Innscor, Ecobank, DSTV)
– national (e.g. Safaricom, Dangote)
• Investment
– venture capital
– private equity
– impact investing
• Entrepreneurship
• Research/Academia
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7. Finding the Job
• Networking is KEY
– Multinationals do advertise online, but many interesting
jobs are advertised through word of mouth
– At school
• Join the African students club
• Take Africa related classes – professors can be a huge help in
finding jobs
• Leverage the alumni network
– At school/work
• Join professional societies
• LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, magazines/publications
• Attend conferences
• Use a professional search firm (particularly for more experienced
professionals)
• Find a way to get on the ground (internship, pro bono
consulting, short term work assignment)
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8. Landing the Job
• Highlight what you bring to the table
– technical skill (e.g. programming, finance)
– industry experience (e.g. healthcare, FMCG, telecoms)
– functional expertise (e.g.
logistics, advertising, strategy, operations)
– qualifications (e.g. PhD, MBA, MA, MS, JD)
– language (English, French, Portuguese, local languages)
• Be conversant in the specific challenges that affect
your industry or country of interest
• Display open-mindedness and willingness to learn
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9. Keep in Mind
• Africa is not a country
– each region and country can vary substantially
– understand the cultural differences so that you can
choose a country that’s the best fit
– target the right country for the role/industry you want
• Relationships are vital
– maintaining a good reputation is critical
– make an effort to understand the relationships between
people, as this may influence decisions, behaviours and
attitudes
– be confident, but not condescending
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10. Any Questions?
• Feel free to ask me about
– the job search
– working environment
– living environment
– useful resources
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11. Questions & Answers
Question 1:
Looking at entities like the IMF/World
Bank, do they have careers in Africa?
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12. Questions & Answers
Question 2:
Can you provide some insight on personal
safety within Africa?
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13. Questions & Answers
Question 3:
Are employers more open to candidates with
previous job experience as opposed to
career-switchers?
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14. Questions & Answers
Question 4:
Are there any regions that are more
receptive to MBA candidates?
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15. Questions & Answers
Question 5:
Do you have any media related to African
news or career opportunities?
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16. Questions & Answers
Question 6:
Based on your experience in Africa, what did
you like the most? What did you like the
least? What was most surprising to you?
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17. Thanks for Joining & Good Luck!
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