Workplace Culture
Business
Greatness Against Hype: Apprenticeship and Depth in African Enterprise
The writer reflects on the gap between online self-presentation and actual competence in African business, arguing that true mastery requires patient, sustained apprenticeship rather than rapid reinvention or pursuit of visibility. Drawing on personal experience across tech and finance, he contends that depth of knowledge—earned through close study of exemplary practitioners—remains undervalued in an age of manufactured credentials and hype.
The Mummy-Nanny Compact: Professionalism, Boundaries, and Care
A reflection on the fraught emotional terrain of the employer-caregiver relationship in the home, arguing that professionalism—clear contracts, regular communication, and realistic boundaries—paradoxically deepens rather than diminishes care. The writer draws on personal experience with multiple failed arrangements to outline three practices that serve both mother and nanny.
No Emotion: On Artist Pay, Corporate Logic, and Labor Power in Cameroon
The writer argues that outrage over low artist payments misdiagnoses the problem: corporations have no obligation to fund culture, artists lack collective bargaining power, and the real issue is structural inequality between local and international business partners. The solution is not better corporate charity but organized labor and ownership by artists themselves.
The Cameroonian Reticence: Corporate Culture, Information Opacity, and the Cost of Secrecy
The writer examines two interconnected cultural phenomena in Cameroon: weak corporate cultures that fail to invest employees in their companies' success, and a broader cultural tendency to withhold good news and business information. Using the example of a chef's deal with a multinational corporation, the piece argues that both corporate leaders and individuals perpetuate economic stagnation by refusing to share knowledge, celebrate achievement, or build transparent systems.
Customer Service and the Economics of Dignity
A sharp critique of customer service failures in Cameroon, traced through a frustrating dry-cleaning transaction. The writer argues that poor service discipline reflects—and perpetuates—a cycle of low wages, business failure, and mutual blame between employers and employees.
Working with Creatives
The piece examines the personality traits that often accompany creative talent—neuroticism, antisocial behavior, lower conscientiousness—and offers practical advice for managers and colleagues on building productive working relationships despite these challenges.