This Week's CULTURE QUIZ: Connect the (African) Culture Concept with the Country!
'UBUNTU' in South Africa...'GRIOT' in West Africa...'DASH' in Nigeria... the list goes on. But what do they mean?
Ready for this week’s CultureQuiz, where you’ll need to connect the African cultural concept with the correct African country or region? If you’ve played along over these last few weeks, you’ll recall that each week we look at a different region of the world, and all the cultural concepts for this week’s quiz come from Africa…more specifically, West, Central, East and Southern Africa. I’ve chosen these concepts, as I do for all the Culture Quizzes, precisely because they result in behaviors that you are likely to see when doing business in these regions. When you understand why these concepts are so fundamental to the culture, you can prepare your own strategies and tactics for successfully managing them…at the negotiating table, at that global meeting, or when you’re planning a project with your colleagues abroad.
Below are this week’s five CultureQuiz questions, each featuring an important cultural concept from a particular African country or region, with four possible definitions (a., b., c. or d.) of the concept. But only one definition is the correct one! Test yourself today and choose the correct multiple choice answer for each of the following five African CultureQuiz questions! (The correct answers for paid subscribers follow the quiz,, so if you haven’t already subscribed to deanfosterglobal.substack.com, you can do so right here).
AFRICAN Culture Concept questions:
GRIOTS, throughout much of the west and central African region, are…
a. storytellers, musicians, actors, etc. who carry on the strong oral traditions of the region through the retelling and re-enactment of stories, mythologies and beliefs.
b. individuals who act as intermediaries between the living and the spirits of their ancestors.
c. individuals, usually representing small rural, tribal groups, who are looked down upon by modern, urban dwellers.
d. refers to the transition between the rainy and dry seasons of the region.
‘UBUNTU’ in the Republic of South Africa…
a. refers to a list of leadership qualities expected of all male tribal leaders.
b. refers to a list of leadership qualities expected of all female tribal leaders.
c. refers to the communitarian ethos that individuals are defined by, responsible to, and dependent on the larger community of which they are a member.
d. refers to a celebration of multi-ethnic celebration, held annually in Pretoria.
‘DASH in Nigeria and West Africa…
a. is a frequently used request for fast-tracking an individual to a position of authority.
b. is a term for “payment”, similar to the Arabic notion of baksheesh; usually the payment of a fee made in order to get something done. In the extreme, it can be seen as a bribe; in moderation, it is merely a “tip”.
c. refers to a unique dialect of Hausa spoken mainly by the business elite.
d. refers to a specific hand gesture used by shopkeepers to alert each other to shoplifters in the market.
“MARABOUT” in Senegal, and much of West Africa, are…
literally means “to wander”, and refers to a respected group of hermetic itinerant tribes, believed to possess magical powers.
is a derogatory term for a wealthy local individual who has amassed his fortune by working with foreign organizations perceived to exploit the local people.
religious and sometimes tribal leaders with equal or greater power than political or governmental authorities.
refers to the highest ranking members of any lineage or clan group in the region.
“AMMA, SANGA & MULUNGU” in West and East Africa…
a. terms that describe different forms of appropriate greeting in the region.
b. terms of endearment, used by adults when speaking with children.
c. are terms that refer to the degree of deference one must show when addressing individuals of greater status and rank.
d. terms that define the ultimate God, the ruling spirit of the universe.
Easy? Hard? So, how many CultureQuiz Culture Concept questions did you get right? Here are the correct answers below…and the reasons why!
Here are your correct CultureQuiz ANSWERS:
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