Unpacking African Markets at Global Network Week
On a weeklong exchange program at Nairobi’s Strathmore University Business School, Ashley Lewis ’27 studied the regulatory, political, and cultural factors that define Africa’s many economies.
One of the most rewarding aspects of Yale’s MBA for Executives program is the opportunity to learn beyond the classroom. During Global Network Week (GNW)—a signature SOM program that sends students on weeklong exchanges at peer business schools—I traveled to Strathmore University Business School in Nairobi, Kenya, for a course called Understanding Doing Business in Africa. The experience challenged my assumptions, broadened my perspectives, and deepened my appreciation for the complexity and opportunity present across the African continent.
Before arriving in Kenya, I expected to learn about emerging markets, economic growth, and entrepreneurship—and I did. I chose this course because I wanted to move beyond a high-level view of emerging markets and better understand how leaders make decisions when consumer behavior, distribution channels, regulation, and culture vary significantly from one market to the next. That goal felt especially relevant as I continue developing as a global leader: I wanted a framework for evaluating unfamiliar markets without assuming that strategies that work in one geography will translate directly to another. What stood out most was the realization that doing business in Africa requires a nuanced understanding of local context, relationships, governance, innovation, and culture. There is no single “African market.” Instead, there are diverse economies, regulatory environments, consumer behaviors, and entrepreneurial ecosystems that demand thoughtful, localized approaches.
Throughout the week, faculty, business leaders, and entrepreneurs shared candid insights on the challenges and opportunities facing organizations across the region. A session with Dr. Geoffrey Otieno on strategic options for doing business in Africa gave this idea a useful structure, challenging the assumption that Africa can be approached as one homogeneous market and emphasizing country-by-country strategy, localization, informal distribution, local partnerships, and market-specific risk. The lesson became tangible during our Nairobi retail safari, where my team compared a QuickMart supermarket at T-Mall with Kenyatta Market, a traditional street market. We examined products, prices, distribution, promotion, merchandising, and service; spoke with attendants and sellers; and negotiated purchases in the traditional market. Seeing similar consumer categories move through very different retail environments made the course concepts concrete: route-to-market, price sensitivity, relationships, and the informal economy can determine whether a business model truly fits local customers.
Equally impactful were the conversations with classmates from around the world. The diversity of experiences represented within the Global Network for Advanced Management—the network of schools participating in GNW—created an environment where every discussion benefited from multiple cultural and professional perspectives. Whether comparing healthcare systems, financial services, technology adoption, or leadership practices, I found myself learning from my peers as much as from the formal curriculum.
Outside the classroom, the retail safari and our engagement with Nairobi’s local community reinforced an important lesson: business is fundamentally about people. We interacted with attendants and sellers as we shopped, asked questions about products and purchasing, and negotiated in Kenyatta Market. The products purchased during the exercise were also tied to the following day’s experience visiting a local school. Those interactions made the human side of market strategy visible and underscored the importance of listening carefully, understanding how people actually buy and sell, and approaching unfamiliar environments with curiosity rather than assumptions.
This experience also reinforced why I chose the EMBA program. Yale’s mission to educate leaders for business and society is reflected in opportunities like Global Network Week, where learning extends across borders and disciplines. The program recognizes that today’s leaders must be prepared to navigate increasingly interconnected global markets, understand diverse stakeholder perspectives, and make decisions that balance economic success with broader societal impact.
As someone committed to growing as a global leader, participating in this course expanded my approach to leadership itself. The week reinforced that humility and adaptability are not abstract leadership qualities; they are practical requirements for making good decisions across markets. Effective leaders have to challenge received wisdom, test assumptions against local realities, and recognize when the people closest to a market understand constraints and opportunities that an outside perspective may miss.
I return from Kenya with a greater appreciation for the country’s innovation, resilience, and potential—and with a more practical set of questions to carry forward. In my next year in the EMBA program and in the workplace, I plan to resist one-size-fits-all assumptions, seek local stakeholder and partner perspectives earlier, examine how distribution and affordability shape adoption, and test strategy against how customers actually live, purchase, and transact. The retail safari reminded me that a strategy can look compelling on paper and still miss the realities of the street, the shop, or the customer. Experiences like Global Network Week strengthen the judgment required to lead responsibly and create meaningful impact across cultures, industries, and communities.
