Africa Journal of Management

Addressing Environmental Sustainability in Africa: An International Business Perspective

Environmental sustainability in Africa and its impact in enabling and arresting the Continent’s economic growth has been a complex story of opportunities and challenges. Africa’s vast wealth of resources—minerals, oil, and agricultural products— places it at the centre of the transformation needed to address environmental hazards. Africa has the world’s largest reservoirs of some of the most important natural resources that are needed for the transformation to clean energy, placing it at the centre of global transformation. The continent has 60% of the world’s solar energy potential; DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) has over 70% of the world’s cobalt; Zambia – the world’s largest reserve of unrefined copper, and South Africa has 90% of the world’s platinum metal reserves. Africa’s tropical rainforests pull more carbon from the atmosphere than the Amazon (UNEP, 2023b). This positions Africa as a major potential beneficiary of the opportunities they offer for economic growth and poverty alleviation (Walls & Vogel, 2023: Bouchene et al., 2021), as it entails that a global green revolution cannot happen without Africa. Indeed, Africa has attracted substantial foreign direct investment (FDI) by multinational enterprises (MNEs), fuelling economic growth, creating jobs, driving innovation, and developing critical infrastructure (Barnard et al., 2023; Walls & Vogel, 2023).

However, these benefits have often come with significant environmental costs (Soundarajan et al., 2021; Adams et al. 2022; Ghauri et al., 2021; 2023; Yu et al. 2023). Despite contributing minimally to global warming, Africa’s poor infrastructure and its heavy dependence on agriculture imply that it disproportionately suffers from the consequences of environmental degradation, including extended droughts and devastating storms and floods (UNEP, 2023a). These environmental hazards have undermined the development of the agricultural sector, degraded already inadequate infrastructure, and precipitated natural biodiversity. These concerns highlight an urgent need to address developmental challenges in Africa to sustain Africa’s future growth (Azour & Selassie, 2023).

As the global narrative increasingly favours sustainable development pathways over traditional models of industrialisation (Hako, 2023), African nations hold the potential to pioneer and lead the way in innovative renewable energy technologies and sustainable development strategies globally (AbdelKarim, 2023). However, this hinges on smart and targeted policy questions and support from policymakers (World Bank, 2024), calling for an international business perspective that will deepen the understanding of these issues as a basis for formulating adequate policy responses of local and global relevance.  While there is a lot of interest in environmental sustainability complexities in Africa, in-depth research on the topic is relatively scarce (Debmalaya et al., 2023; Nachum et al., 2023; Hofstetter et al. 2022). The role of government policies and MNE practices in shaping and responding to these challenges needs to be better understood. How Africa and its firms can springboard (Luo & Tung, 2007, 2018) established approaches, particularly in relation to global green transformation, deserves to be studied.  Given the high stakes of these issues – for Africa and the world – there is an urgent need for research to analyse the multiple facets of environmental sustainability in Africa and draw their consequences for practice (Yu et al., 2023).  This is the task we seek to address with this special issue.

Given the global nature of the phenomenon and its magnitude, global stakeholders are bound to play a central role in addressing its challenges and capitalising on its potential benefits. Hence, this special issue focuses on these stakeholders and seeks to examine the role of MNEs and international organisations – from the Continent and outside it – in the dynamics of Africa’s environmental sustainability. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• What policy reforms are necessary to facilitate the creation of a supportive local and international ecosystem for sustainable business in Africa? What role can MNEs play in implementing these policies?
• How do international trade policies affect environmental sustainability and societal welfare in Africa? What is the role of regional and international organisations in these dynamics?
• How can MNEs effectively address environmental sustainability challenges and leverage opportunities presented by Africa's unique economic, cultural, and environmental landscape in their sustainability practices?
• How do inclusive international business and management strategies prioritising local community needs and environmental conservation contribute to sustainable business practices and policies in Africa?
• What role do international business and technological partnerships play in advancing innovations in environmental sustainability in Africa?
• What market and nonmarket mechanisms should be implemented to ensure that MNCs' sustainability governance practices are transparent and accountable to the stakeholders they impact in Africa?
• What role do pan-African and foreign MNEs play in multi-stakeholder partnerships aimed at environmentally sustainable growth in Africa, and what are the best practices for their involvement?
• How can disruptive international business and management research address the unique challenges in Africa in achieving sustainable growth?

In conclusion, we strongly encourage the submission of manuscripts that provide novel perspectives through interdisciplinary research, collaboration among co-author teams, particularly African and non-African scholars, and diverse methodological approaches. This Special Issue offers an opportunity to advance our understanding of what environmental sustainability means for Africa and how an international business perspective can contribute to this outcome.

Short Biographical Notes of the Guest Editors:  

Dev K (Roshan) Boojihawon (d.k.boojihawon@bham.ac.uk) is an Associate Professor of Strategy and International Business at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK. He completed his PhD at the University of Strathclyde. He is an ‘Outstanding Award-Winning’ educator, and his current research interests include aligning sustainability, resilience and growth within African contexts, leadership and governance approaches to implementing sustainability, and embedding Net Zero within UK SMEs and global value chains (particularly in addressing Scope 3 emissions). He has published several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in refereed journals such as the Journal of World Business, Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. Business Strategy & The Environment, International Business Review, Services Industries Journal and African Journal of Economic and Management Research.  He is the author and editor of two books, including Organisational Collaboration (2011) and his latest book on ‘China in Africa: New Dynamics, New Synergies (2021). His next book, ‘Making Net Zero Change Matter’, is in the manuscript stage. He is an Associate Editorial Board Member of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Management. Roshan will be the lead coordinator of this SI, with equal involvement from each guest editor.

Lilac Nachum, (Lilac.Nachum@leeds.ac.uk) is Professor of International Business at Leeds Business School and holds a visiting position at Strathmore University Business School. Her current research interests include global supply chains and value creation in a global world, emerging market MNEs, and the relationship between firms, society and governments as they shape the international strategies of firms. Her research in these areas and others appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, and the Journal of International Business Studies, among others, and was awarded several recognitions, most recently the 2021 AIB/FIU Best Theory Paper Award. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business and was a 2021-22 Fulbright scholar to Africa, hosted by Strathmore University Business School. She is a consulting Editor on Africa and the Middle East to JIBS, an Associated Editor of the Journal of International Business Policy and the Africa Journal of Management. ​ She is the author of three books; the last one - on value distribution in global supply chains - was published by Edward Elgar Publishing (the ‘New Horizons in International Business’ series) in 2021. She has held visiting positions at universities worldwide and consulted with firms and governments on issues related to globalisation and multinational companies. 

Pervez Ghauri (p.ghauri@bham.ac.uk) is Professor of International Business at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK. He completed his PhD at Uppsala University (Sweden) and taught for several years. Over the years he has worked as Chaired Professor at Manchester Business School and Kings College London. Pervez is the founding editor of the International Business Review and Consulting Editor for Journal of International Business Studies since 2017. He is Fellow of Academy of International Business (AIB) and Fellow of European International Business Academy (EIBA). He served AIB as Vice President during the period 2008-2010. Pervez has led several major funded research projects in Sweden and in the UK. Pervez has published more than 30 books and more than 150 articles in top level journals, such as Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, Journal of Product Innovation Management and Journal of Organizational Behavior.

Tony Fang, (tony.fang@sbs.su.se) PhD, is Professor of Business Administration, Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University, Sweden. His research interests include cross-cultural management, innovation and leadership; intercultural communication; international business negotiation, emerging markets multinationals; nonmarket; Swedish management style; media and democracy; and issues that require interdisciplinary examination. He is the author of the book Chinese Business Negotiating Style (1999, Sage), co-editor of the book Globalization, Political Economy, Business and Society in Pandemic Times (2021, Emerald). His articles such as “A critique of Hofstede’s fifth national culture dimension” (2003), “From “onion” to “ocean”: Paradox and change in national cultures” (2005-2006), “Yin Yang: A new perspective on culture” (2012), and “The internationalization of Chinese firm and negative media coverage: The case of Geely’s acquisition of Volvo Cars” (2017) triggered follow-up debates. Tony Fang is on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of International Business Studies(JIBS) and he is a Senior Editor of International Business Review (IBR).

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