I've just returned from a holiday in South Africa, and I came home with more than a suntan. Africa's economy is one of the most interesting stories in the world right now, and it holds some sharp lessons for business owners here in Merseyside and across the UK.
A Continent of Two Speeds
The headline numbers are striking. The African Development Bank reports that 12 of the world's 20 fastest-growing economies are in Africa, and the IMF expects Ethiopia to grow by around 9.2% this year. Yet South Africa, the continent's most developed economy, expects growth of just 1.6%, according to its National Treasury.
Same continent. Same global conditions. Very different results.
Sound familiar? The British Chambers of Commerce forecasts UK growth of around 1% this year, with SME sentiment at its lowest level since the pandemic. Yet iwoca found that 72% of SME owners still expect their own turnover to grow. The economy sets the weather. It doesn't decide your result.
Three Lessons Worth Bringing Home
Bottlenecks, not demand. South Africa's problem isn't a lack of customers. The government points to logistics bottlenecks and weak public infrastructure as the drag on activity. Most SMEs I work with are the same. The demand is there; the constraint is internal. It might be a creaking process, a cash-flow gap, or an owner who has to sign off everything. Find your bottleneck before you chase more sales.
Self-reliance versus waiting. For years, rolling power cuts ("load-shedding") hammered South African businesses. Rather than wait for a fix, they acted. One economist estimated that around 1.2GW of rooftop solar went in within a single year, blunting the damage. Neighbouring small businesses were even encouraged to share the cost of a generator between them. So ask yourself: how much of your plan is waiting for the Budget, an interest-rate cut or a better quarter?
Credibility compounds. South Africa was recently removed from the FATF grey list and secured its first credit rating upgrade in 16 years, easing borrowing costs. Getting your house in order pays. For an SME, that means clean management accounts, documented systems and a business that doesn't depend on you. That's exactly what lenders, buyers and investors reward.
Taking Control
Africa's lesson isn't that conditions don't matter. It's that two businesses facing the same conditions can deliver very different outcomes. The difference is focus: fix the bottleneck, build your own resilience, and make your business one people want to back.
So while the headlines talk about a slow-lane UK economy, try one question: what would you do differently if you stopped waiting for conditions to improve?
If you'd like to talk through how these ideas apply to your business, drop me a line at rogerpemberton@actioncoach.com or book a discovery call.
