I've just returned from having few a days of leave, so getting back into the swing of things was a little tough this morning; from catching up on email to bringing you the latest news from across Africa. Thanks to the rest of the team for filling in while I was away. Two articles caught my attention today, namely Africa is all about relationships and Connecting with the continent by Nick Durrant. The main topic here is collaboration - the process where two or more people or organisations work together to realise a shared goal. This seems to be the recurring topic of late as more and more organisation are working together to reach desired goals. And then the philosophy of 'ubuntu' struck me. Wikipedia describes Ubuntu as "a southern African ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other", and on the page was a video of Nelson Mandela explaining the concept of Ubuntu. Respect, helpfulness, sharing, community, caring, trust, unselfishness were some of the characteristics that are pointed out in the video. According to Nick Durrant, 'the key to success in Africa lies in collaboration. Finding a trusted partner on the ground that understands the market not only reduces the hassle of having to negotiate the various cultural idiosyncrasies of an unexplored territory, also exposes businesses to a number of varied and sometimes unexpected opportunities'. So maybe collaborating with organisations who share the same vision as you is the way to go? Send in your thoughts to africanews@bizcommunity.com, I would like to hear from you! I'll leave you with the words of Vanilla Ice: All right stop, Collaborate and listen... Have a fantastic week! Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985, @Biz_Africa
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