Hospitality and Tourism Management in Africa: Volume 1

By Dr. Lumumba Umunna Ubani

WHAT A BOOK!

Discover not only the lifes sustaining joy of Africa but the geography, the translucent and radiant beautiful sunny world of the tropical Africa. As an individual you need it. As a youth, you need it. As a corporate Executive, you need it. The children and the mothers need to come and experience Africa too! You must all come and see the real African once you go, you will never want to come back! The spiritual essence of the motherland, Africa, is beckoning on everyone to come. Perhaps you have never travelled to this beautiful continent called Africa. Or you may have thought that it is just a country. But no, it is the home land of all mankind. The mother land of every human being who must have fed from one pot before they spread out to various countries of the world. In fact, archeologically speaking, you are really, an African! Come and experience the uniqueness of this continent the second largest Continent on earth!
This is a book of enlightenment about where the life on earth began just few millions years ago. Here is a book that will challenge you to read and re-read again. It is a classic book which will be treasured by all the present and future generations of people throughout the world. In its portrayal of topography, its geographical and Eco-logical canaries of Africa, you will be inspired not only to come to Africa right away, but once you go, you will want to live there for good! The author is praying and hoping that soon some of the most beautiful and wealthy nations in Africa will approve and grant 35% cost reduction for business and leisure tourists to make traveling possible for all who plans to come to Africa.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Feb 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469144665

Dr. Lumumba Umunna Ubani

Dr. Lumumba Umunna Ubani Bsc. MBA. PhD. ND. HOM. PGD. Ed Born in 1955 at Umuaghara, Ogbe, Imo State of Nigeria, Dr. Ubani came to Britain in at a tender age in 1963. Like most self-made Africans from humble families of ordinary means, he did all sorts of odd jobs to fi nance his education. He attended Vauxhall College in West London and Wands worth college in South London for his GCE ordinary and Advanced Levels. He attended Hendon College of Technology in North London; Elizabeth Gaskell college of Education in Manchester England. He earned Higher Diploma in Hospitality and Institutional Management. Pursuing further interest, he studied at the London College of Naturopathic Medicine and obtained PGC in Homeopathy and African Traditional Medicine. Dr. Ubani further went to the universities of New Hampshire and Western Colorado in the United States and obtained Bsc; MBA and PhD with special interest in Hospitality and Tourism Human Behavior. He has carried out an independent Research Study in various African countries to survey the effects of imperial imprint legacy among the African Citizenry. He has had extensive experience and exposure in various areas of education, administration, commerce and industry. He had worked in America, in Britain, in Nigeria, Ghana and in Ivory Coast. As a senior Principal Lecturer, he headed the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the Federal Polytechnic in Kogi state Nigeria. He was in charge of Medicament Naturel Africain Clinique in Abidjan. He is the director of Beckman Naturopathic Medicine Limited in Britain. He is a consultant on Tourism Management and Human Resources Development. Dr. is a speaker on various aspects of African Life: The Afrikan family and the place of African women in History. He is a guest speaker at the Big Interview on the Black History Month at the OBE on-going Television Show. Dr. Ubani is the founder and the Rector of the Afrikan Institute. He has been the co-ordinator of Anglo-African Cultural Society in Britain for more than fi ve years. He is the author of Preventive Therapy in Complementary Medicine; He is also The Author of the African Mind Reconnection and Spiritual Reawakening.

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Copyright © 2012 by Dr. Lumumba Umunna Ubani.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011963644

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4691-4465-8

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4691-4464-1

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4691-4466-5

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How to Use This Book

In the context of this book, the four major target audience for which this book is aiming at are the potential national and international tourists, the students of hospitality and tourism management, the management operators, and the researchers in the field. The book is organised into various parts and chapters.

Each of the nations within the national groupings is being described in chapters. The business of hospitality and tourism in Africa can be discussed without going into the details of the each nation’s geography and social set-up. However, the topic of hospitality and tourism requires thorough social and economic understanding of each nation involved especially in their cultural diversity. Since there is no uniformity in the socio-economic behaviour of the nations, the picture of the differences in each country will help us appreciate the disparity in the services available. Readers are therefore directed to go straight into the relevant chapter(s) in reference to the information relating to each country of their interest.

CONTENTS

PART ONE

Introduction

Chapter 1  The Historical Evolution of Management

Chapter 2  Evolution of Management

Chapter 3  Functions of Management

Chapter 4  Organisation Structure

Chapter 6  The Concept of Organisation and Leadership

PART TWO

Chapter 1  The Historical Development of the Hospitality Profession

Chapter 2  Leadership in Hospitality Management

Chapter 3  The Concern of the Hospitality Business Organisation

Chapter 8  Catering As Parts of Hospitality Business Profession

PART THREE

Chapter 1  Various Departments within the Outlets

Chapter 2  Changes—Professional Terminology—Colonial Origin

Chapter 3  Other Essential Departmental Units

PART FOUR

The Importance of Human Resources

Chapter 1  Introduction

Chapter 2  Proper Human Resources Planning

Chapter 3  How to Motivate the African Human Resources in a Workplace

Chapter 4  Basic Approaches to Improving Productivity

Chapter 5  The Years Ahead

Chapter 6  Contemporary Concept of Hospitality Services

PART FIVE

Child Sex Tourism with Special Case Study Reference in Kenya Background

Chapter 1  Introduction

PART SIX

Cultural Differences in Hospitality and Tourism Industry

Chapter 1  Introduction

Chapter 2  The Nation of Angola and Its Location

Chapter 3  The Nation of Ghana—the Lanaguage, Culture, Etiquette, Facts, and Statistics

Chapter 4  The Nation of Nigeria

Chapter 5  The Nation of Ethiopia

Chapter 6  The Nation of Egypt

Chapter 7  The Nation of Kenya

Chapter 8  The Nation of Algeria

Chapter 9  The Nation of Cameroon-

Chapter 10  The Nation of Senegal

Chapter 11  The Nation of South Africa

Chapter 12  The Nation of Morocco

Chapter 13  The Nation of Tunisia

Chapter 14  The Nation of Libya

Chapter 15  The Nation of Zambia

Chapter 16  The Nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Chapter 17  Overcoming the Problems of Cultural Differences

About the Author

Indexes

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the following important persons in my life: Ms Jacinth Leveque of Nashua, New Hampshire USA, a woman of profound energy, complete dedication, honesty, and loyalty. I also dedicate this book to my nephew Mr and Mrs Anthony in the United States. To Mrs Alami Coker, my former student, now a lecturer at the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Federal Government Polytechnic, Kogi State, Nigeria. Last but not the least, to my two sons Ezewuiro, Ugochukwu Ubani, and my Lady Uchechi.

Foreword to the First Edition

In Africa, our time, our societies, and our world are changing. The relationship between people in the continent and the environment has changed and is still changing. These changes are reflected in the issues of ecology, security, public health, poverty, the struggle for survival, overpopulation, technological advancement, and stable government. The struggle for democracy among the new generations of people throughout the world is on the march. In our search for relevant technology and in our effort to cope with these changes, a basic conflict of values has surfaced between the old and the new ways of handling existential problems. African indigenous traditional values are pulling us towards the cherished good old ideas while our inherent capacity to question the viability of such values in the light of modernisation are compelling us to establish new ones based on our current needs. As the enlightened ones and technologists, we have a specific responsibility of meeting these changes. In the training of the future generations of hospitality service managers, we must embrace new technological culture and avoid myopic syndrome.

The author of this book is himself a seasoned professional and has done quite a lot in the development of hospitality services management education. With his immense experience in the field, what he has said in this book should be seen as first class. His colleagues and contemporaries in Europe and America are not his match in the field of hospitality, human, and material resources management.

Dr Ubani is an experienced manager, administrator, and a Naturopathic functional medical practitioner. A combination of these complimentary experiences places him in a better position to put forward the appropriate mechanism for innovation in hospitality and tourism management in his own continent—Africa. He has worked in various countries of the world, including America, Britain, Ghana, and Ivory Coast. I have no doubt that this book will be useful to a range of readers. I am pleased to recommend it particularly to all who are engaged in the hospitality services management profession. This book will make a valuable study tool and reference to teachers, managers, and students. Moreover, the book will enable them to understand the attitude and behaviour of managers and management-guest relations, why the leaders in the hospitality and tourism management fail, and the importance of human relations. Presented in an authentic clear style, the socio-cultural behaviour of both the African guests and the workers will shock the readers especially those who are not familiar with the African environment. The author, an indigenous African himself, prefers well organised, culturally flavoured hospitality services in various African nations that ensure safety and customer satisfaction than the cultivation of a concocted Western based system that leaves the customers unsatisfied and embittered.

Dr Ralph Irechukwu, North London College

Foreword to the Second Edition

The management of material and human resources in hospitality service industry in Africa is at last beginning to receive attention. At Imo State University, here in Nigeria, we have been stressing the importance of effectiveness and efficiency of the managers in the industry. Our industry is practically based on human service. Management is therefore, under constant public scrutiny and evaluation. At the university, our programme at both Bachelor’s and Master’s degree levels draws our student’s attention to these needs. In this book, Dr Ubani has, once again, demonstrated his perseverance and dedication to the profession. As a colleague at the Federal Polytechnic Idah, in Kogi State of Nigeria, he was involved single-handedly in developing the popular HND programme and the syllabuses after approval by the National Board for Technical Education, Kaduna, Nigeria. This second edition, no doubt, is Dr Ubani’s dedication to hospitality, and tourism management throughout the continent of Africa. I am certain that it will be professionally enlightening both to the potential national and international tourists, students, graduates, and to the practising managers in the industry.

Professor Innocent Okolie, Department of Hospitality Management, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria.

Preface

The origin of this book is traceable to my exposure and experience in the hospitality and tourism management field in Nigeria between 1979 and 1989. My acceptance to commence the development of both National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) in hospitality and tourism management as the basis for the National Board for Technical Educations (NBTE) accreditation was no simple task. The battle was a multiple one. My diverse cultural background in Britain and America, after twenty-six years abroad plus the harsh environmental effects of Nigeria and ‘Idah factor’ in the then Benue state, all made life rather hard but challenging. For me, the blessings of the wonderful body of students, who brought about my insight into Nigeria’s hospitality management, overshadowed my feeling of bitterness and hardship throughout my stay at Idah. No sooner did the first group of HND students graduate than it became clear and obvious to me that hospitality and tourism management in Africa required an in-depth reorientation and redevelopment. My efforts in search of an authentic reference for indigenous hospitality management practice and styles brought my attention to the fact that none existed throughout the nation. As I began my research throughout the continent of Africa, it became further clear that there was no indigenous approach in the field.

Most of the training colleges including the polytechnics were spending more time and resources on repetitious cramming of outdated foreign syllabuses. No wonder, therefore, they had continued to produce ineffective manpower. The credibility that was attributed to the hospitality and tourism management programme (HTM) at Federal Polytechnic, Idah, was based on our research and hard work coupled with our effective management of the training programme that incorporated some African indigenous subjects. The then Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr Sam Chukwujekwu and my humble self, as the Head of Department (HOD), ensured that we produced the best graduates in hospitality and tourism management in Nigeria and we succeeded. It was upon this standard that the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) based their accreditation criteria for HND in hospitality and tourism management throughout Nigeria.

The principles of hospitality and tourism management operations in Africa must form a principal cardinal factor for an effective and efficient management both for the training program and in operations. Our colleagues in Europe, America, and all other semi-developed nations of Asia may not be facing the same problem as in the African continent. This is why some basic details are so described in this book. As I travelled throughout the nations of West, East, South and Northern Africa, the generic similarity of hospitality and tourism business services became obvious to me. Consequently, the nation of Nigeria and Kenya seems to represent the role of modernity apart from the Republic of South Africa. This book will throw light, for the first time in Africa, on the application of modern management principles to the operations of hospitality business in various African nations with cultural modifications. The book will show that to understand hospitality operations, the students and operational managers must first understand the concept of organisation, the nature of tourism, and the principles of human relations.

Part One

This part will examine the historical evolution of management and conclude with the organisational structure of business and basic human needs.

Part Two

This part will describe the nature of hospitality services management and the history and development of the hospitality services profession. It will give an elucidation on the movement of people and transportation in the coinage era. It will also present the hospitality business organisations in various African nations. It also explains the concept of leadership and attitude of mind common in Africa.

Part Three

This part will describe various departments within the hospitality outlets. It will also explain the functions of each department and their responsibilities.

Part Four

This part will deal with the practice of human relations management in hospitality and tourism management.

Part Five

This chapter will examine various ancillary potential investments within the segments of the hospitality industry outlets and give brief functions.

Part Six

This chapter will describe an additional top management development program.

Acknowledgments

It began about fifty years ago in 1964, on the first day of my industrial training placement at Mount Royal Hotel, Oxford Street, London. The head of production department decided to expose me to all sections. At the dining hall during the lunch hour, my trainee colleagues laughed in caricature of my comment that I shall one day become a manager and a lecturer in hospitality management. That joke became a challenge and a lifelong motivating experience of a burning desire. However, in effect, my dream prevailed and came true. This was possible due to my inner qualities of never-ending persistence, endurance and detachment from all distractions and immense sacrifice over the years.

I owe immense gratitude to my academic advisor at Whitmore School of Economics and Business, University of New Hampshire, USA Ms Jenny Tripe for her endless efforts in directing my studies at Whitmore Hall. I owe special thanks to the International Students Officer Mrs Boland, to Ms. Jancient Leveque, my confidante, and all the senior academic staff at Whitemore Hall who formed the Umunnawuike Friendship Committee to raise fund in support for the completion of my studies. That was the first time somebody had taken interest and paid for my education. May God continue to bless this crop of Americans. I wish to assure them that their efforts in my career have planted a seed of kindness and friendship in my heart for life!

Several people have contributed to the successful completion of this book: the late Madam Grace Claudette O’Connor of MGC Secretarial Services Limited in South East London, who spent many hours at the computer typing and resetting the manuscript; Dr Ralph Irechukwu, for his encouragement and writing of the foreword for the edition; my former students at Idah, wherever they may be, who provided me with the opportunity of teaching and learning, most particularly, I am grateful for their collective and individual moral support. I must extend my special gratitude to my former HND student, Alami Agama (now Mrs Coker), at Idah who is now a lecturer at the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Federal Polytechnic in Kogi State, Nigeria. She made the first edition of this a must read text for the students.

I was very fortunate to have been able to receive the full cooperation of my former academic staff of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Federal Polytechnic, Idah. My special thanks to Dr Chukwujekwu, former Chief Executive of the Polytechnic, for his relentless positive reinforcement during my time there. I equally thank my former colleague at the School of Food Technology, Dr Innocent Okolie, now Professor at the Department of Hospitality Management, Imo State University, for his encouragement for this revised edition. My heartfelt thanks to all the staff of the School of Postgraduate Studies at the School of Compulsory Education, University of Greenwich, London, for their contributions to my knowledge and experience. My thanks to the academic staff at Westminster College, School of Hospitality Management, Battersea, London, for all the information connected to the hospitality management program during my teaching experience there. My gratitude to Professor Caze Nave of Pennsylvania State University for supervising my external PhD program at Western Colorado, USA. I am particularly thankful to Dr I. C. Ahukanna of the Federal Government Polytechnic in Imo state of Nigeria, for editing this second edition. I am especially grateful to all the hospitality and tourism agencies in various African nations contained in this book. Finally, I must also extend my special gratitude to Dr Syrulwa Somah of A&T State University in Green Borough North Carolina USA, for my reference to his work titled ‘Rebuilding Liberia’s Tourism Industry for Economic Growth.’ I must thank Chief Okechukwu Emereoyne, the Managing Director of Keys Remos Limited in London, for his moral support and encouragement. Finally, I am grateful to my confidante, lawyer Ngozi Ashwood of London, for her continued moral support in all aspects of my endeavour Dr Lumumba Umunnawuike Ubani (Second Edition 2011

PART ONE

Introduction

This introductory section will enable the readers to begin to form a generic understanding of what the continent of Africa means. In our oppressor’s etymology of Africa, they say that our way is dead and no more. They say that the Nile Valley legacy has all ended thousands of years ago. But you see, we, the descendants, are still here, still remembering, and still surging on.

The Nile Valley is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is 6,650 km (4,130 miles) long. Our people (Africans) are the Elders of the earth. They are the originators of what is commonly known as Greek philosophy which is actually the ancient Kamitic (Egyptian) way of life. The word Kamet refers to the original Nubian culture of the Nile Valley Afrikans. Nubia is a region along the Nile in northern Sudan and southern Egypt. There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504 when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sonar Sultanate resulting in the Arabization of much of the Nubian population. The term Afrika literally means ‘flesh (af)] and soul (ka) of the hidden Sun (ra)’. The present day spelling of the word Africa came from the Arabic word fick or frick which means to separate, divide, or conquer. Like ‘Africa,’ ‘Egypt’ is a name imposed on the ancient Khamite by foreigners (Queen Afau, The Sacred Woman). In modern times, we have accepted the name Africa which connotes the flesh the soul and Ra, since this is a more positive and progressive expression of the land and soil of the continent.

The discussion of hospitality and tourism management in Africa cannot be complete without exploring the historical and social importance of the continent. The vast continent of Africa is so rich and diverse in its culture that it not only keeps changing from one country to another but also within one individual country. Much of Africa’s cultural activity centres on the family and the ethnic group. Art, music, and oral literature serve to reinforce existing religious and social patterns. The westernised minority, influenced by European culture and Christianity, first rejected African traditional culture to allow the spread of their own culture and their own values. But with the rise of African nationalism, a cultural revival occurred. The governments of most African nations are fostering indigenous culture, the indigenous African-based technology, national museums, artists, and writers. These include multicultural indigenous technology. Archaeologically speaking, Africa was the birthplace of the human species between 8,000,000 million and 5,000,000 million years ago. Today, the vast majority of its inhabitants are of indigenous origin. People across the continent are remarkably diverse by just about any measure: They speak a vast number of different languages, practice hundreds of distinct religions, live in a variety of types of dwellings, and engage in a wide range of economic and social activities. It is a serious mistake by anybody to nurture the belief that helping to develop Africans and Africa will lead to the detriment of the non-indigenous Africans. Black Africans are hospitable once they know that you are sincere with them.

Over the centuries, peoples from other parts of the world have migrated to Africa and settled there. Historically, Arabs have been the most numerous immigrants. Starting in the seventh century AD, they crossed into North Africa from the Middle East, bringing the religion of Islam with them. A later movement of Arabs into East and Central Africa occurred in the nineteenth century. Europeans first settled in Africa in the mid-seventeenth century near the Cape of Good Hope at the southern end of the continent. More Europeans immigrated during the subsequent colonial period, particularly to present day South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Algeria. They brought the concept of Christian religion with them. South Asians also arrived during colonial times. Their descendants, often referred to as Indians, are found largely in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. The economic and social ‘melting pot nature’ of Africa will be reflected in the chapters dealing with the multiculturalism in the relevant parts of the book. As the homeland of mankind, Africa holds the future hope of the world provided that the original indigenous people of the continent are allowed to develop and make their own mark.

An Overview of the African Continental Features

One of the unfortunate products of ignorance, bias, and limited knowledge is the attempt by so many people throughout the world to describe Africa as a country. One hopes that the contents of this book will help to enlighten such groups of people better.

The culture of Africa encompasses and includes all cultures which were ever in the continent of Africa. The main split is between Northern Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, which in turn is divided into a great number of ethnic cultures. The main ethno-linguistic divisions are Afro-Asiatic (North Africa, Chad, Horn of Africa), Niger-Congo (mostly Bantu) in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Nilo-Saharan in parts of the Sahara and the Sahel and parts of Eastern Africa, and Khoisan (indigenous minorities of Southern Africa). The notion of a ‘pan-African’ culture was discussed with seriousness during the 1960s and 1970s in the context of the Négritude movement but has fallen out of fashion in African studies. The wide distribution of Bantu peoples across Sub-Saharan Africa, encompassing parts of Western Africa, Eastern Africa, Central Africa, as well as Southern Africa is a result of the Bantu expansions of the first millennium AD. The wide use of Swahili as a lingua franca further establishes the Bantu people as a nearly ‘pan-African’ cultural influence. Africa is home to innumerable indigenous people, ethnic and social groups, some representing very large populations consisting of millions of people, while others are smaller groups of a few thousand. Some countries have over twenty different ethnic groups and also are greatly diverse in beliefs. Africa has a rich tradition of arts and crafts. African arts and crafts find expression in a variety of woodcarvings, brass, and leather art works. African arts and crafts also include sculpture, paintings, pottery, ceremonial and religious headgear, and dress. African indigenous culture has always placed emphasis on personal appearance, and jewellery has remained an important personal accessory. Many pieces of such jewellery are made of cowrie shells and similar materials. Similarly, masks are made with elaborate designs and are an important part of African culture. Masks are used in various ceremonies depicting ancestors and spirits, mythological characters, and deities.

In most of the traditional art and craft of Africa, certain themes significant to African culture recur, including a couple, a woman with a child, a male with a weapon or animal, and an outsider or a stranger. Couples may represent ancestors, community founder, married couple, or twins. The couple theme rarely exhibits intimacy of men and women. The mother with the child or children reveals intense desire of the African women to have children. The theme is also representative of mother Mars and the people as her children. The man with the weapon or animal theme symbolises honour and power. A stranger may be from some other tribe or someone from a different country, and a more distorted portrayal of the stranger indicates proportionately greater gap from the stranger. The effort of non-indigenous Africans has been to distort the original culture of the people and, if possible, replace them through the acts of acculturation. Acculturation is the exchange of cultural features through marriage that results when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact; the original. Cultural patterns of either or both groups may be altered, but the groups remain distinct.

Like all human cultures, African folklore and folktales represent a variety of social facets of African culture. Like all human civilisations and cultures, flood myths have been circulating in different parts of Africa. For example, according to a pygmy myth, ‘‘a chameleon hearing a strange noise in the