INTRODUCTION
Culture can be defined as a system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that when together taken constitute a design for living or doing things for that matter. From this definition we can see that every group of people has a way of going about their daily life.
Business is one of those activities that people are involved in on a daily basis. Starting with an individual to larger groups of people bound together by geographical boundaries will approach business differently. This is mainly a result of cultural influence. Culture influences all aspects of a person’s life. And that includes doing business.
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda constitute members of the East African Community (EAC), Burundi and Rwanda are members of the EAC as of 18 June 2007. The other three countries have been in the community since independence.
LANGUAGE
Communication is very important in business. For people to communicate successfully they need to use language that is understandable to all. In East Africa the two commonly used languages are Swahili and English. This are however not the only languages spoken in this region. Hundreds of more other indigenous languages are spoken across E. Africa.
Swahili Language is the most commonly used language in East Africa; this language gives the East Africans a sense of belonging. Kiswahili is the language spoken by most people in East Africa. Originally developed on the Coast from a mixture of the African Bantu languages and Arabic, this ancient trading language has become the common language for all the tribes in the ...