By Austin Okere
On June 08, 2011, I received a letter from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship), part of which read; ‘The remarkable success of CWG is a story that inspires entrepreneurs, academics, investors, and policy makers working in emerging countries.

We are writing to ask if you would be interested in telling that story at the annual conference of the Legatum Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’.

Being an ardent entrepreneurial crusader, I was very excited at the opportunity and gladly accepted the invitation.

The Legatum Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is dedicated to creating economic opportunity for ordinary citizens in low-income countries by supporting the innovative and transformative business concepts and technologies of aspiring entrepreneurs.

They host a symposium in the fall of each year for entrepreneurs, investors, scholars and policy makers who convene to discuss global entrepreneurship. Many prominent people have spoken there, and include six Nobel Laureates, four heads of state, prominent scholars, and renowned innovators such as Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web.

At the end of my presentation to an audience from the academia and beyond, whose thirst for information about business in Africa seemed unquenchable from the number and variety of questions, I was approached by the founder and director of the centre, Professor Iqbal Z. Quadir, a Wharton graduate himself and co-founder of Grameenfone in Bangladesh,who, having the difficult task of balancing the residual interest of the audience, with the need to press ahead with the programme, asked if I would be kind enough to make a repeat visit to MIT in early March 2012 to share further insights when his class shall be taking the case study on the Computer Warehouse Group.

It will be recalled that the Columbia Business School published a case study on the Computer Warehouse Group in early 2008, which received sterling reviews from the Financial Times of London in the Business Education section.

The comments of Professor Murray Low, Director of the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurial Centre at the CBS perhaps best summarises the overwhelming reception to the case study;’I have used the case along with the video in both Tanzania and Kenya for audiences of entrepreneurs, faculty and MBA students. They all find it inspiring!!’

In a world where only four out of every 100 start-ups live up to their 10th anniversary, every emerging success supports the case for entrepreneurial pursuit. While the emphasis on the BRICS countries by global investors is justified, it cannot be gainsaid the immense opportunities offered by Sub-Saharan emerging economies.

This region offers a largely untapped market where democracy has taken root, and trade barriers are being broken by regional economic integration blocs such as ECOWAS, COMESU, EAC, SADC and CEMAC.

The region’s institutions are beginning to drive meritocracy as a yardstick of who gets ahead, and the burgeoning middle class provides ample entrepreneurial opportunities. The short summary is that Sub-Saharan Africa now provides improved investment and regulatory environments, and is open for business.

The central message of my talk, which is mostly missed by global investors, is that Sub Saharan Africa may present today the opportunities presented by the BRICS countries in the last decade.

To buttress this point, consider that at the height of the recent global economic downturn when business growth stalled around the world, one group of companies grew at an annual rate of almost 30% from 2006 to 2009, far outpacing their global competitors, including Standard & Poor’s 500 biggest American firms.

These companies are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in one of the world’s most dynamic markets. They are the Multinational Corporations (MNCs) of Sub-Saharan Africa. In the past decade, about nine multinationals have emerged from East Africa and 21 from West Africa (14 from Nigeria alone).

This is not at all surprising, considering that Nigeria’s population constitutes almost half of that of West Africa, is the second largest economy, after South Africa, with a much higher GDP growth rate of 7.2% compared to South Africa’s about 4.2%, and targeted to surpass the South African economy by 2025.

These emerging Sub-Saharan multinationals such as Dangote Group, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Computer Warehouse Group, UBA to mention a few, have seen dramatic growth in the past several years. These companies are expanding across the region, and thriving in markets that global multinationals may have considered unprofitable, too complex or even dangerous.

The CWG story typifies the trials, challenges and triumph of entrepreneurs in the challenging but highly rewarding environment that characterises Sub Saharan Africa.

Success stories such as that of the Computer Warehouse Group contribute immensely to the attraction of capital to the region, which combined with the entrepreneurial acumen and youthful population pool unleashes waves of economic boom which in turn lifts the pile at bottom of the pyramid into the more desirable networked economy of the emerging global village.

Austin Okere is CEO of  Computer Warehouse Group.