3 things African companies can learn from the Uber CEO resigning

Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick yesterday resigned from the ride sharing company citing the need to move forward. The company had of recent suffered bad press arising from sexual harassment allegations by one of its staff and stealing trade secrets from a competitior. African businesses, especially start ups can learn from the mistakes Travis made:

Structure is important
Uber lacked structure in its operations. The company operated for a long time without a Human Resources director and a Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Many African businesses tend to be run by the founder who is the all in all, and a circle of loyal employees who may not be qualified to handle critical issues. Had these key staff being present, perhaps things would not have escalated to that level.

Know when to walk away
Rather than hold on to the business till it runs aground, Travis opted to walk away. Some founders remain in office till they are removed by death. In Nigeria, despite the CBN putting a tenure system for bank MDs, many of them continue to run the companies despite being non executive directors.

Integrity is key
Though Uber made tremendous progress under Travis, lax corporate governance rules was the order of the day. Uber has being sued by Waynmo, one of its competitors over stolen trade secrets. The company is also under investigation by the US government over software that enables it to dodge law enforcement.