ERIKA AMOAKO-AGYEI

Erika Amoako-Agyei is an intercultural consultant, corporate trainer and adviser who works with global companies expanding into Africa. For nearly a decade, Erika Amoako-Agyei worked for the IBM Corporation, including three years in West Africa, as an American expatriate based in Ghana. As a regional sales manager, she managed company operations in the West African region overseeing multiple projects in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Her position requirements included regular rotations to IBM Africa head office in Johannesburg, South Africa. Upon returning to the United States, Amoako-Agyei became the director of corporate relations for the Thunderbird School of Global Management. She later went into business for herself, founding a computer hardware and software consultancy providing independent consulting to Africa-based corporate, educational, and government clients. In the summer of 2011, she spent nine weeks touring Ghana on a national campaign trail as media spokesperson and personal aide for a presidential candidate. Drawing from her experience, she has written a businessperson’s guide to social and professional culture in sub-Saharan Africa, titled Business and Social Etiquette in Africa: A Guide to Understanding Culture and Business Practices (forthcoming in 2012). She is also the founder and editor of Africa Business Review: www.AfricaBusinessReview.net.