Dangerous Bedfellows - Politics and Doing Business in Africa

When doing business in African, one is always tempted to use friendly politicians to advance processes. Sometimes friendly politicians and people in ‘high’ places will help expedite the granting of a mining license, a timber concession, an oil block allocation or a telecom license. This type of help can be very profitable as it will help bypass the red-tape laden bureaucratic systems of African countries. Thus there are many professionals who sell their services by claiming that they know the 'right' people to fast track business processes in African countries. Many business folks find these services appealing because as the popular adage goes “in business time is money”. One must note however that there are many pitfalls in mixing business with politics in Africa. You must tread carefully so that your business is not labeled a benefactor of a particular political party or faction. Four years or eight years is always around the corner and the reins of power change very quickly. Once your business is labeled, the business may become the target of political wrath once there is a power change.

Here is what you have to do to avoid being weather the storm. Always insist that due process is followed in all business processes. The politician might help expedite your concession or license, but make sure that you comply with all stipulations of the law and any administrative procedures. The next political party will have very little ammunition (evidence) to use to withdraw your license or concession. They certainly will have noting on you to impute killer fines on your business. As much as possible, never attend a political rally or make political pronouncements in public. Although many African countries have turned the corner, there are still a few relics of the past that exist.

Employment Law – Social Networking and Blogs

The internet has provided a relatively cheap and efficient way to disseminate information throughout the world. Today, medium size companies and your smallest mom and pop company can boast of a website. Thanks to free sites like Worldpress, Google blogger, Facebook etc, ‘star’ employees are creating Facebook pages, blogs and twitter accounts to promote themselves and their companies. Anchors at Radio and Television stations all have blogs and Facebook pages. Some government officials have Facebook and other social network accounts with 1000s of ‘friends’ through which they send government information and raise funds.

The important question is who owns these sites. What happens when the employee/employer relationship ends? The employee will definitely agree to remove any reference to his former employer from the site. But the question still remains, who keeps these sites with all the 1000s of followers. The law is currently silent on this issue. However, in the event of a litigation to determine ownership, these are some of the questions that may arise; was there any prior written agreement? When was the page created? What is the nature of the content? Is the page updated substantially during work time? etc. These issues can be very contentious because the large list of contacts/followers may be crucial for an employee to launch a new career. The employer who loses these 1000s of contacts/followers may lose a substantial audience or clientele. The company may have to spend valuable resources and time to build another network of audience/clientele/followers.

To avoid a potential costly law suit, the parties may take a proactive step by establishing a written agreement at the front end to determine the ownership of social networking sites when the employer-employee relationship ends.