ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, thank you to the many CEOs, executives, and leaders of development institutions who generously shared their experience and insights on business-building in Africa—along with their passion for the continent. This book is infinitely richer for their contributions. They include Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank; Kofo Akinkugbe, CEO, SecureID; Jean-Louis Billon, former CEO, SIFCA; Mark Bowman, former Managing Director, Africa region, SABMiller; Alex Brand, Director of Operations, Liberty Eagle Kenya Limited; Manu Chandaria, Chairman, Comcraft Group; Gilbert Cheruiyot, Chief Executive, Gilchery Skip-Trace; Paul Collier, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University; Alex Cummings, former President, Africa Group, and Chief Administrative Officer, Coca-Cola; Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive, Dangote Industries Limited; Mohammed Dewji, Managing Director and CEO, MeTL; Mitchell Elegbe, CEO, Interswitch; Tony Elumelu, Chairman, Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Africa, and founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation; Nadia Fettah, CEO, Saham Finances; Huang Shiyi, Chief Strategy & Investment Officer, CGCOC Group; Jay Ireland, President and CEO, GE Africa; Donald Kaberuka, former President, African Development Bank; Graça Machel, Chair, Graça Machel Trust; Strive Masiyiwa, Executive Chairman, Econet Group; Dan Matjila, CEO, Public Investment Corporation; Sara Menker, CEO, Gro Intelligence; Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women; Jesse Moore, CEO, M-Kopa; James Mwangi, Managing Director and CEO, Equity Group Holdings; Nicky Newton-King, CEO, Johannesburg Stock Exchange; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Minister of Finance, Nigeria; Tayo Oviosu, CEO, Paga; Sacha Poignonnec, Co-CEO, Jumia; Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO, Total; Deepak Singhal, CEO, Dufil Prima Foods; Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; Fred Swaniker, cofounder, African Leadership Group; Ashish J. Thakkar, founder, Mara Group; Tidjane Thiam, CEO, Credit Suisse; Danladi Verheijen, Managing Director, Verod Capital Management; Brooks Washington, founder and Principal, Roha. We also thank the more than one thousand executives from across the world who participated in our Africa business survey, a key data source for the book.

McKinsey & Company exists to help its clients make distinctive, lasting, and substantial improvements in their performance—and many of the insights we share in this book have been honed through our work in shaping strategy and transforming operations and organizations for our clients across Africa. We thank the management teams of every one of our clients for the opportunity to be part of your African growth stories.

Although there are three authors listed on the cover of this book, the thinking behind it is the fruit of a much bigger team. We thank our partners in McKinsey’s African offices—and beyond—for believing in this project, backing it with such enthusiasm, sharing their insights and networks, and participating in many of the interviews conducted for the book. Particular thanks go to Yaw Agyenim-Boateng, Jalil Bensouda, Jon Cummings, Damian Hattingh, Tania Holt, Kartik Jayaram, Omid Kassiri, Adam Kendall, Kannan Lakmeeharan, James Manyika, Lohini Moodley, Bill Russo, and Saf Yeboah-Amankwah. We also thank our coauthors of the McKinsey Global Institute’s Lions on the Move reports, which provided the initial research base on which the book was built.

We also benefited from the incredible dedication and creative thinking of a core team of McKinsey colleagues who brainstormed approaches, conducted fresh analysis, and managed complex logistics. They included Rik Kirkland, partner in charge of McKinsey’s global publishing, and a team of Africa-based consultants and specialists led by Hilda Kragha and Desh Pillay and including Saad El Mansouri, Tayo Emden, Adeyemi Gafaar, Tarryn Govender, Khanya Gwaza, Boye Jesse, Lungelo Mnguni, Niyi Ogunbayo, Sidhika Ramlakan, Ekemezie Uche, and Roshni Walia. We also thank Heather Hanselman and Daniella Seiler of McKinsey Insights, who designed and orchestrated our Africa business survey with great creativity and professionalism. Many other McKinsey colleagues provided ideas, advice, and practical help. Three who stand out are Amandla Ooko-Ombaka, Philip Osafo-Kwaako, and Fransje Van Der Marel.

Writing a book such as this requires both art and science. For the artistry, we are indebted to Colin Douglas and Mary Kuntz, whose elegant writing and editing contributed enormously to the final shape of the book. Melinda Merino helped shape the idea for the book and was a passionate, incisive companion throughout the writing journey. She and her dedicated colleagues at Harvard Business Review Press could not have been better partners. McKinsey’s editorial production team carefully reviewed and fact-checked the entire manuscript; its members include Gwyn Herbein, Dana Sand, Venetia Simcock, Katie Turner, Sneha Vats, Pooja Yadav, and Belinda Yu.

Last but not least, we thank the entrepreneurs and business executives from across Africa and the world who are thinking big, taking risks, and innovating to provide better products, services, and solutions for Africa’s people. You are the true leaders of Africa’s business revolution.