The Art and Ethics of Business: Through African (Yoruba) Lenses

A traditional African understanding of the way to do business has contributed, and still has a lot to contribute, to the running of business today, especially with regard to the practice of management. This contribution, as one would expect, is multifaceted, not least because Africa (and each of its countries) is vastly multicultural and multicontextual. Each of its countries (54 fully recognized territories and 10 non-sovereign territories) has its own numerous and diverse stores of time-honored knowledge. Given the impossibility of the task, this chapter does not attempt to touch on all aspects of African wisdom. Rather, it offers the reader selected insights into traditional management philosophy from the Yoruba ethnic group of Nigeria,1 thus providing an example of the role of adages and wise sayings in communicating and developing values (Fasiku, 2006). Esusu (a cooperative financing model)2 and a few other traditional structures and concepts (leadership; mentoring and people management and development; the importance given to family and relationships) are also touched upon, but only very briefly, to ensure the chapter has a clear focus.