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
‘‘ 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 manyin-one aspects. That is, the one continent
that holds over 54 independent nations, and
same time provide every country to develop its
unique opportunities.’’
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.
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.
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.
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.
How can marketers target such a large
number? Are there successful PanAfrican entities who have managed to
meet the needs to this large number?
The question still remains – can we
Isaac is a marketing research consultant
within the Africa and Middle East
region. You can reach him on this and
related issue via email at: itngatia@
gmail.com or on Twitter @IsaacTN