Managing Partner Message
Norbert Dörr speaks about the journey thus far and his aspirations for the Sub-Saharan Africa office
As managing partner of McKinsey's Sub-Saharan Africa office based in Johannesburg, I find new reasons every day to be excited about the possibilities of our work on the African continent. I have chosen to live and work in Africa because of my personal passion about having impact for the greater good of this continent—helping build a healthy private business sector, but also playing a meaningful role in the public sector, in social sector work and in much needed infrastructure development.
We have entered an exciting period of unprecedented African economic growth, supported by essential economic and political reforms As Africa and South Africa enter a period of exciting growth and development, the Sub-Saharan Africa office is in a particularly strong position to make a truly distinctive contribution to the revitalisation of the continent.
Why do I believe this? I know we are a truly distinctive institution because of our exceptional people and the extraordinary impact we bring to our clients.
We are committed to creating attractive spaces for exceptional people—the kind of people who thrive in our multi-cultural and entrepreneurial environment. Alongside many South Africans, our people come from all over the world. They are attracted by our efforts to strike the right balance between extraordinary effort and achieving a balanced lifestyle. They are also drawn by our near-infinite set of professional development options. The global nature of our firm is a two-way street, of course. Our local consultants often pursue opportunities to work in other McKinsey offices across the globe. The result is that we have the unique opportunity to develop our people into both African experts and global leaders.
Our extraordinary impact springs from our relentless focus on driving meaningful and enduring results for our clients. Since the office's inception in 1995, our client service has steadily expanded its breadth and reach—leading to over 600 projects in more than 20 African countries. Initially concentrated on core Southern African industries such as consumer goods and mining, we have increasingly spread our activities. Today we are highly active across the continent in core growth sectors such as telecommunications, financial services and oil and gas. We have built distinctive skills in helping African clients conduct successful operational and cultural performance transformations. Furthermore, we are proud of the role we play in advising numerous government agencies and state-owned enterprises—including helping develop ambitious development strategies for entire countries of Africa. We engage the minds of decision makers at country and sector level—not just helping to improve parts of the system but playing a shaping role in the development of the system as a whole.
At McKinsey we have always been passionate about Africa’s development. Our office vision speaks of having impact on our clients in a way that improves the total economic reality and social conditions of entire communities and countries—and our Sub-Saharan Africa office today reflects that common passion, melding our firm's distinctive local presence, skills and knowledge with our wealth of global expertise. In the process we have also developed a particular role within our global firm—helping clients be successful in Africa, building knowledge about solving Africa's specific business and societal challenges, and providing our people with rich opportunities for entrepreneurial and developmental work.