Marketing in Africa and the Consumer Landscape

When you fall get up, oh oh, If you fall get up, eh eh.

Tsamina mina zangalewa, Cuz this is Africa Tsamina mina, eh eh,

Waka waka, eh eh, Tsamina mina zangalewa, This time for Africa!

That was the theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa. This was an event that not boosted South Africa’s image as a host. However, as the lyric highlights, this was also seen an African event. In social events having different nationalities, many tend to play this song to identify any groups from Africa as the song cuts across boundaries. Indeed, brand Africa has existed in many minds, but connotes varied images. Why is it important to address the brand Africa? The global markets still look at the continent as a whole, but let me clarify that this implies:

Addressing the region, the same way as others like Europe, Asia …etc.
More important, a high number still look at Africa through a prism of risk, low income, the unknown. Is this a bad thing? Not at all. The onus is for the African marketer to address the ‘brand’ perception.

I once attended a ‘summit on Africa’ and during the break, a delegate said he would like to put a subsidiary in Africa. Upon probing further, I realized Africa is still a blank slate for anyone out there who has not interacted with the continent or its people. Indeed, its common to come across the question – ‘are you from Africa?’

As the continent continues to integrate in the global space, there is a need to address the brand Africa, its people and the consumers it holds. However, there is a need to address the dual issue of one-in-many as well as the many-in-one aspects. That is, the one continent that holds over 54 independent nations, and same time provide every country to develop its unique opportunities.

There exist some key aspects that are used over time to define the continent. For instance, statements like ‘Only in Africa’, ‘This is Africa’ (not the publication, but the phrase). These statements have been used over time to describe the uniqueness of the continent. However, can the same be applied in the African consumer market? Have brands selling on ‘this is for Africa’ succeeded in growing their markets within the continent? Does the continental outlook resonate with the consumers in the various markets of Africa? This is an area that we will explore in the second of the 3-series planned to cover this area.

The continent continues to develop, despite the challenges in the global economy. Some economies in the continent are drawing interest due to the high growth rates. Previously, international players have included some economies such as Nigeria and South Africa among key target markets expected to show strong growth and provide high returns for investors. Acronyms such as MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) help to push specific markets around the globe. Can Africa also come up with its own acronym for top markets for FDI. For instance, EY has an annual list of attractiveness with countries such as South Africa, Morocco, Egypt and Kenya being among top ones in 2015. Can an acronym such as SMEK, depicting only Africa’s economies, in this case on attractiveness in foreign direct investments, help in pushing markets within the region? This is only an example, but there the same can be applied in other areas / sectors of economies across the continent.

With a population of over 1.2 billion, Africa accounts for about 16% of the world population, according to the estimates by United Nations. This provides a large base of consumers. However, how can marketers target such a large number? Are there successful Pan-African entities who have managed to meet the needs to this large number? However, the question is – can we define the African consumer? Other unit territories with over a billion people are China and India. However, these are nation states. Africa, though a single territory, has over 54 different nation states. Is it possible to define an African consumer? How can businesses navigate the African consumer landscape in such a vast area? What sectors are driving this landscape?

In the second part, we will look at some of the areas that will drive this landscape. Most of them are at a macro level, with an impact on the consumer landscape within the continent.