From penguins to business
By Rahul
Africa is a growing market I hope to understand. South Africa, in particular, is a great gateway into the sub-Saharan economy.
A land which has winter when almost everyone else has summer, Penguins in Africa? I thought that was only in cartoons. South Africa has always sparked my curiosity. It has a culture that is very unique to this nation. It combines African and Western culture in an organic way with a spoonful of Indians and other cultures. My cousins had lived here for several years and invited me several times but it took a chance from BU to get me to finally pack my bags and book my tickets.
Coming from an engineering and pharmaceutical background, Africa is a growing market I hope to understand. South Africa, in particular, is a great gateway into the sub-Saharan economy. Its economy is the second largest in the continent after Nigeria. There has been rapid growth in the middle class in the decades post-apartheid. This serves as a good market for the development of new businesses and change in the demands of the customer base. Though it is an African nation, South Africa is vastly different from the National Geographic images in countries such as Somalia. It has a thriving workforce and a good quality of life. Yet South Africa is not without its issues. The unemployment rate stands at 26.6 percent and much of the work is informal. South Africa also faces large illegal immigration from neighboring countries and a high crime rate. It will be interesting to see how things are on the ground.
South Africa also has close ties with India. From the days of Mahatma Gandhi fighting against class inequality to being part of the BRICS nations. South Africa and India have been sharing economic benefits. There is a large population of Indians in South Africa, initially brought here by the British as plantation workers. There is also a large number of Indian expats. This was interesting to me until I learned that Indian citizens needed a visa to enter South Africa. I hope my day spent traveling to New York and filling out of 20-page application forms would be worth it in the end. At least we are not charged for the visa.
Looking forward to the trip.