Spring 2024 Business B8779 section 001

Global Immersion: Africa's Consumer Mark

Global Immersion: Ghana

Call Number 14445
Day & Time
Location
F 9:00am-10:30am
880 Kravis Hall
Day & Time
Location
T 9:00am-10:30am
420 GEFFEN HALL
Points 3
Grading Mode Standard
Approvals Required None
Instructor Stephan Meier
Type LECTURE
Method of Instruction In-Person
Course Description Africa’s consumer market has large potentials. Africa is the world’s second-fastest growing region – after emerging Asia according to the African Development Bank Report. About half of the growth of the continent’s GDP growth is due to consumer-facing industries. 1.3 billion people live in Africa and according to the United Nations, the population is expected to increase to 2.5 billion by 2050. The working-class population in Africa is growing by 2.7 percent each year (compared to 1.3 percent in Latin America and 1.2 percent in Southeast Asia). McKinsey projects that by 2025 two-thirds of the estimated 303 million African households will have discretionary income and consumer spending will reach $2.1 trillion. Not surprisingly, many firms and investors are trying to tap into Africa’s consumer market.

This course aims to train students’ global intelligence, i.e. their understanding of specific cultural aspects of different consumer markets by analyzing the potential and challenges of Africa’s consumer markets – using Ghana as a case study. A West African country with 29 million inhabitants, Ghana was one of the fastest growing countries in the world with 8.1 percent GDP growth in 2017. Unfortunately, the economic outlook is less stellar now, but hopefully the country is getting back on track. Ghana is considered one of the safest and most stable countries in sub-Sahara Africa and the country shares similar demographic and consumer characteristics with its neighbors: About half of income earners are young (between 16 and 34 years old) and aware and eager to try new products.

The students will work in groups on a project with an organization in Ghana that is consumer facing. Through work with the Ghana partner firm and interviews with consumers in Ghana, the students should develop ideas that can be turned into feasible solutions for the Ghana partner firms. The firms in Ghana will come from different industries ranging from a beverage producer to a tech platform facilitating the hiring of African coders. The projects are time-consuming, and students are expected to spend a significant amount of time in NY working on those projects. In-country, students will spend about 2-3 days working in Ghana with the partner firm and prepare a presentation to the leadership of those companies. As a return on their hard work, students will get a truly multicultural immersion experience in Africa working on a project.

The course aims at familiarizing students with interview-based customer
Web Site Vergil
Department Business
Enrollment 35 students (36 max) as of 11:06AM Saturday, December 7, 2024
Subject Business
Number B8779
Section 001
Division School of Business
Open To Business, Journalism
Section key 20241BUSI8779B001