Management of financial institutions in Africa: Emerging themes and future research agenda

ABSTRACT

The rise of the financial services sector in Africa over the last decade or so has been phenomenal, marked by significant advances in mobile money, and growing financial inclusion and profitability. However, there are significant gaps in the academic literature on the sector, as most recent studies have focused on the more technical aspects of economics, banking and finance, with little attention paid to the management of financial institutions, and the strategic behavior of financial services players. This special issue attempts to fill these gaps. In this introductory paper, we provide an overview of three important trends or thematic areas that the papers in the special issue address: the decline of foreign banks in Africa; the rise of pan-African banks; and how frugal innovation and fintech are shaping the future of financial services in Africa. We also outline three avenues for future research: historical perspectives on financial services; indigenous financial institutions; and mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances.

KEYWORDS:

• Pan-African Banks
• Fintech and Frugal Innovations
• indigenous African financial institutions
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• financial institutions management

Acknowledgements

The Guest Editors would like to thank Professor Bruce Lamont, senior associate editor of Africa Journal of Management, for his support and guidance while we worked on this special issue, and for his commitment to advancing African management research. Thanks also to the many reviewers who volunteered their time and expertise to provide useful feedback that helped to improve the quality of the manuscripts. We also want to thank the panelists (and participants) at the Making Finance Work for Africa session at the Academy of International Business Africa Conference in Rwanda in August 2018, especially Professors Nshuti Manasseh, Ogechi Adeola, and Reid Click. The Savings Group for Africa research consortium coordinators, Professors Grietjie Verhoef, Dana T. Redford, and Christian Wolf, made a contribution to the section on indigenous African financial institutions, for which we are thankful. We owe a debt of gratitude to all the authors for making this special issue happen.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Ifedapo Adeleye is Associate Professor of the Practice of Human Resources Management at Georgetown University, USA. Prior to joining academia in 2007, he worked in the Nigerian financial services industry. Dapo has since undertaken research on the banking industry in Africa in the areas of internationalization strategy and strategic HRM, and delivered execution education and consulting services to financial firms. Dapo is the Founding Editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Business in Africa Series, and has guest-edited special issues of Journal of Business Ethics, AIB Insights and Thunderbird International Business Review. He received his PhD in Management from The University of Manchester, UK, and an M.S in International Economics Banking and Finance from Cardiff University, UK.

Yaw A. Debrah is Professor of International Management at Swansea University, UK, and Chair of the Africa Chapter of the Academy of International Business. Yaw has held academic positions at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, Brunel University and Cardiff University in the UK, and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has edited five books and guest-edited special issues of International Marketing Review and Asia Pacific Business Review. His scholarly work has appeared in journals such as International Journal of HRM, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of World Business, Journal of International Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, Tourism Management and Group and Organization Management. He has consulted for many organizations including Singapore Telecom, Commonwealth Secretariat and ILO. Prof. Debrah completed his PhD at Warwick University, UK.

Lilac Nachum is Professor of International Business and Strategy at Baruch College, CUNY, USA. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business (AIB), and part of the leadership team of the Africa Chapter of the AIB. Prior to joining Baruch, she worked at Cambridge University and UNCTAD. Her recent research interests relate to MNE location strategy, MNE competitive position, and the internationalization of capital-raising. Prof. Nachum has published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of International Business Studies, Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Management Science and Global Strategy Journal. She has acted as a consultant to the UN and the World Bank, and has held visiting positions at universities around the world, including Lagos Business School, GIBS, and University of Kigali. Lilac completed her Ph.D. at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.

ORCID

Ifedapo Adeleye http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2370-4911

Yaw A. Debrah http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0831-5803

Lilac Nachum http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1642-0838