It’s Time for Africa! : A study of how Swedish companies enter the African telecom sector

Abstract: This thesis aims to provide a greater understanding of what entry mode Swedish companies choose when entering the African telecom sector. Furthermore, the report will also study the benefits and difficulties with the African telecom sector and include the Swedish company's market selection. The rapidly growing continent of Africa has recently gained interest, and the fast-growing telecommunication sector plays a significant role in further development in the region. Africa, in general, has been understudied, and our thesis aims to clarify uncertainties regarding how companies, both smaller and larger, have entered the market.  The report will have a literature review where traditional entry modes and market selection theories are brought up and current challenges and opportunities in the African telecom sector. These theories have also been showcased in a conceptual framework to view how they interact with each other. Moreover, the methodology chapter will introduce each strategy and then argue why the chosen method is used. This report will conduct an abductive approach with a qualitative research method. The methodology will also introduce the thesis respondents and how the interviews were conducted. Moreover, the empirical data will be divided into three sections; opportunities and difficulties, market selection, and market entry mode, where each respondent tells their experiences within the subjects. Furthermore, the empirical data also includes an interview with a scholar who has previously written about the African telecom market. The analysis is divided into the same sections as in the empirical findings and discussed from the literature review and the professional's point of view. The conclusion reveals that the main opportunities are primarily the underdeveloped market and a large number of people, while the most significant difficulties are corruption and, in many cases, inadequate infrastructure. The findings further include that smaller Swedish companies tend to enter one or few countries within the African telecom sector while larger companies enter more countries simultaneously. Moreover, it also mentions how important the network is and that the entry mode will differ depending on the company's size. Larger companies tend to seek acquisition, while smaller companies are more dependent on exporting and joint ventures.