The Influence Of American Culture On African Culture

Running head: INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN CULTURE ON AFRICAN CULTURE1

The Influence of American Culture on African Culture

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INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN CULTURE ON AFRICAN CULTURE 2

The Influence of American Culture on African Culture

Introduction

Over the years, interactions between African and American cultures have resulted in

numerous influences that have changed trends in both civilizations. Many tourists,

educationists, students, merchants, and other expatriates have traveled from the United States

into African countries for varied reasons. Additionally, many American firms have explored

and utilized business opportunities in Africa. Most of them have been instrumental in

transferring the American way of life into African countries. Today, many Africans have

adopted outstanding characteristics of American life including food culture, music,

entertainment, and work culture (Damm, 2017). Like in America, many African cities are

characterized by the conspicuous presence of fast food restaurants, American Pop

entertainment, and the adoption of American corporate trends.

The Influence of American Culture on African Culture

The way Africans prepare, serve, and consume their foods has been evidently

influenced by various American trends. As a matter of fact, the whole food industry including

the construction of restaurants, reception of hotel patrons, and overall presentation has

borrowed different elements from American styles. The first of these is the prominent

presence of American-style fast food chains and restaurants. Most of these use the

McDonald’s and Domino’s approaches. In fact, many American brands like McDonald’s,

Domino’s, Brooklyn Pizza, and KFC have branches in cities like Nairobi, Johannesburg,

Lagos, Accra, and Kampala. Other restaurants have African names but use American fast

food cuisine styles (Barber, 2014). These trends involve the use of appetizing and delicious

advertisement and branding styles with the leading food offers including pizza, fried chicken,

hamburgers, hotdog, salads, sandwiches, cakes, and pastries among others. At the same time,

many American beverages, beers, and their emulations are consumed by a larger part of the

INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN CULTURE ON AFRICAN CULTURE 3

population in the cities and towns (Park, Hongu & Daily, 2016). Examples of these include

Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Jack Daniels, Captain Morgan, and Bacardi among others.

Other elements African cultures influenced by American trends are music and

entertainment. Many African theaters and movie houses show American action and romantic

movies. This is to the extent many Africans who love theaters flock these movie houses and

have American leading actors and actresses as their favorites. Some of the commonly liked

actors encompass Jason StathamSylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude, Steven Segal, and Chuck

Norris(Esser, Smith& Bernal-Merino, 2016). At the same time, popular culture has also

spread among many Africans with the more literate ones liking American rock, hip-hop,

country, and jazz. Many town and city nightclubs thrill their patrons with this trend while the

consumers develop attachments to the music and even listen to them in private houses

(Charry, 2012). While the entertainment and music go on in the nightclubs, it gets

accompanied with American-style food and beverages.

Conclusion

The most notable influence of American formal culture affects the work-life of

Africans in different countries. To begin with, many African companies have adopted the

American way of doing business. They develop company values, hire their human resources

based on their visions, advertise aggressively, and depend more on meritocracy and the

ability to deliver while recruiting employees (Peskin& Wehrle, 2012). On the other hand, the

employees find the most suitable and free working environments where they are expected to

identify with the company and deliver their best at work. To achieve this, they are provided

with good food, ample working environment, and liberal options where they work with a

greater sense of responsibility and belongingness (Flamholtz& Randle, 2011). A typical

example of this case is witnessed in the company Cellulant whose work culture is more

American than African.

INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN CULTURE ON AFRICAN CULTURE 4

In conclusion, movements of people across Africa and America over the years have

made Africa acquire numerous elements of American culture. While some of these are

practiced independently in Africa, others are incorporated into African practices. Many

Africans enjoy American food culture. They eat fast-foods and drink American brands of

beverages. Similarly, many Africans identify with American popular culture and

entertainment. In the formal sector, many African companies have adopted American

corporate practices. These increase focus on target markets and provide suitable working

conditions for employees. In sum, the influence of American culture on African culture is

outstandingly evident in the areas of culinary trends, music, entertainment, and work culture.

INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN CULTURE ON AFRICAN CULTURE 5

References

Barber, D. (2014). The third plate: Field notes on the future of food.New York: The Penguin

Press, 2014.

Charry, E. S. (2012). Hip hop Africa: New African music in a globalizing world.

Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Damm, C. (2017). America's Cultural Role in the World Today. Access-

internationalvg2.cappelendamm.no. Retrieved from http://access-

internationalvg2.cappelendamm.no/c951212/artikkel/vis.html?tid=385685

Esser, A., Smith, I. R., & Bernal-Merino, M. A. (2016). Media across borders. Localising

TV, film and video games. Basingstoke: Taylor & Francis Limited.

Flamholtz, E., & Randle, Y. (2011). Corporate Culture: The Ultimate Strategic Asset. Palo

Alto: Stanford University Press.

Park, S., Hongu, N., & Daily, J. (2016). Native American foods: History, culture, and

influence on modern diets. Journal Of Ethnic Foods, 3(3), 171-177.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jef.2016.08.001

Peskin, L. A., & Wehrle, E. F. (2012). America and the world: Culture, commerce, conflict.

Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

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