Market Development Challenges Faced by Multinational Coporations in Sub-sahara Africa a Case Study of Basf

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the market development challenges faced by BASF in developing its Sub Sahara Market. The study also sought to establish the possible remedies to these challenges. The research design adopted in this study was a case study since it focused on a single entity. Primary qualitative data was collected through interviews and content analysis was applied in analyzing the data. The study findings reveal that BASF faces a number of challenges. At the forefront are supply chain and logistics challenges such as delays and congestion at various ports, poor road network and corruption. Regulatory challenges such as bureaucratic registration process, harsh trade tariffs and custom duties as well as varying and rapidly changing regulations across different economic blocks were also identified. The study also established human resource challenges such as difficulties in identifying, recruitment and retaining top talents with the correct education background and experience. Other challenges identified include difficulty in obtaining market information due to lack of complete databases and poor record keeping habits, lack of confidence on the company due to historical reasons and cultural conflicts between the expatriates and local employees. Some of the suggested remedies to these challenges include actively promoting the awareness of diversity and importance of inclusion of the various cultures in the organization, establishing proper employee development programs in order to attract, train and retain talent, employment of locals to work closely with expatriates for moderation purposes on both sides and understanding to the best extent possible the local regulatory framework of different regions. It is observed that logistical challenges quite significantly affect the market development efforts of BASF in the sub-Sahara region. Individual governments are best positioned to tackle most of these challenges. It’s recommended for BASF and other multinationals to give advocacy role a priority in order to sensitize governments to improve infrastructure and remove other supply chain and logistics bottlenecks in order to boost trade.