AIB Insights Call for Papers: Understanding the African Context
Submission deadline: 15th December 2024
Special Issue Co-editors:
William Newburry, AIB Insights Editor (Florida International University, USA)
Desislava Dikova, AIB Insights Deputy Editor (WU Vienna, Austria)
Elizabeth L. Rose, AIB Insights Deputy Editor (Indian Institute of Management Udaipur, India)
AIB Insights is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes Actionable International Business Insights. Short (~2500 words), topical, thought-provoking articles should be akin to written "TED Talks", with an applied/actionable focus that is heavy on insights, but light on references, jargon, and methods. These insights must be relevant to the international business community of researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and educators. With this call, we invite submissions that offer novel and applied insights pertaining to international business in the context of Africa.
The business environment in Africa is vibrant, diverse, and dynamic, but relatively understudied by the IB research community. Some of the world's most rapidly-expanding economies are on the continent – along with some of the world's poorest – and many African nations are experiencing extensive foreign investment. Much of the economic growth is driven by entrepreneurship, especially via the informal economy.
The African continent has a long and complex history, and its 54 countries reflect a wide variety of political systems and economic development. Economic integration within the continent has, to date, been relatively limited; this may change with the recently-established African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to create a single, liberalized market.
Africa encompasses tremendous diversity. Geographic diversity across the huge continent creates substantial differences in nations' access to natural resources. Cultural and linguistic diversity – with 800+ ethnic groups and 2000+ spoken languages and dialects – occurs both between and within nation-states. Most of the many cultures in Africa are considered to be collectivist in nature, meaning that in-group relationships and social ties are important. The global African diaspora implies that such ties have tremendous geographic reach, and the potential to affect how international business involving African firms takes place. As Nachum et al. (2023) note, Africa is rising.
We welcome papers that offer insights into the benefit, challenges, and nuances of undertaking border-crossing business on the African continent.
Submission Process:
Colleagues interested in submitting to this Special Issue should consult the AIB Insights For Authors page and use the Online Manuscript Submission System. Please mention "Special Issue: Africa" in your cover letter when submitting your manuscript.
Timeline:
The full manuscript submission deadline is 15th December 2024. We anticipate that the Special Issue will be published in the latter half of 2025. Note that, to accelerate the process, manuscripts submitted prior to the submission deadline will be reviewed upon receipt.
Reference:
Nachum, L., Stevens, C. E., Newenham-Kahindi A., Lundan, S., Rose, E. L., & Wantchekon, L. (2023). Africa rising: Opportunities for advancing theory on people, institutions, and the nation state in international business. Journal of International Business Studies, 54: 938–955.
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William Newburry
Ryder Eminent Scholar of Global Business
Florida International University
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