Consultants eyed to boost economy, security
DESPITE an abundance of foreign aid and robust institution-building support from the international community and the UN, African development remains hampered by military conflict, economic insecurity and political instability.
As instability mounts, African governments are increasingly turning to top-level corporate and management consultancy firms for reform guidance and policy implementation advice.
With consultancy demand spiking, industry heavyweights like Mckinsey and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have been joined by an assortment of lesser-known consulting outfits, including highly specialised firms like the Lancaster 6 Group headed by Christiaan Durrant.
In a comprehensive effort to combat the difficulties many regional governments face in developing their economies, consultancy firms have embedded specialist consultants across the continent.
Mckinsey & Company, the so-called grandfather of management consulting, currently maintains offices in Luanda, Cairo, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Casablanca, Lagos and Johannesburg. These offices can advise on different sectors of public policy, including healthcare, economic development and national security.
By maintaining an active presence in Africa, consulting offices are better equipped to provide valuable policy and strategy insights, from optimising economic regulations to helping kickstart reform projects.
For example, one of the flagship programs of BCG in Africa is the advancement of financial services and the restructuring of the private equity sector, particularly in the surging markets of South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.
Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, Mckinsey’s Addis Ababa office recently oversaw the comprehensive transformation of the country’s tax system, streamlining tax administration processes and revamping compliance procedures. Thanks to Mckinsey’s tax transformation project, Ethiopia has been able to unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in additional tax revenue.
Nevertheless, not everyone is convinced that big consultancy firms like Mckinsey are the answer to Africa’s problems. In fact, Mckinsey is still embroiled in a process of repairing its reputation after attracting bad press for its involvement in a multimilliondollar fraud case in South Africa.
Even as Mckinsey pledges to “earn back the trust we have lost”, more niche and more nimble firms are already rushing to fill the consultancy and advisement void created in South Africa.
Among this group of companies is Lancaster 6, a niche consultancy firm specialising in providing strategic guidance to create and implement government policy and political strategy.
Headed by former Royal Australian Airforce pilot Christiaan Durrant, the firm works to addresses better governance and stronger economies; two outcomes which Lancaster 6 believes will lead to greater stability and higher quality of life across the continent.
It has already assisted the government of Mozambique to help establish good governance directives, and other countries often ignored by bigger consultancy practices.
Farhad is a Paris-based political analyst specialising in Middle East affairs, specifically intra-arab relations and conflict resolution