MARKETS IN AFRICA
The Aspiring Traveller Within Africa And Opportunities For Marketers
By Isaac Ngatia
‘ One who does not travel much believes their mother is the best cook ’ - African proverb .
Africa is a vast continent . If one were to visit a country within the continent every three months , it would take about 14 years to complete all the 54 countries . Indeed , that ’ s a substantial amount of time to cover the continent . It would be an excellent boost for intra-Africa tourism ! Indeed , is traveling part of the African consumer ? Yes .
Tales of travels across the continent go centuries back in time . The expeditions of Ibn Battuta in the medieval era highlight some of the earliest travel within the continent . From ancient Egypt with its trade and travel relations with the Kingdom of Sheba to the South , to the exploration around the gold kingdoms of West Africa , it ’ s all about the earlier explorations within the continent . Even within sub-regions , communities traversed their areas for trade , nomadism , migration , and exploration of new territories .
However , with invasions , wars , colonialisation , and geopolitical interests , a lot changed to the detriment of the African traveller . This resulted in complex and expensive travels within the continent . The bureaucracy runs across air , road , and sea modes of transport . The issue continues to nag .
There are many growing voices on the need to relax visa requirements across borders within the continent . The coming to age and awareness by most people of the continued relaxation of visa requirements within the continent is providing an opportunity for people to travel . Social media has stories of people taking multi-country road trips and sharing their experiences , hospitality across different communities and the varied cuisines along the way .
From my observation , the East Africa to South Africa circuit seems relatively easier to navigate . East Africa to Central Africa is mostly used by trucks for trade . Road trip up to Kigali are common . Will the admission of Democratic Republic of Congo to the East Africa community provide an incentive to extend such trips ? West Africa is also opening regional borders , albeit at a slow pace . Getting across North Africa by road is still a challenge .
Will the opening of Africa to more road travelers provide any business opportunities ? That ’ s a question with an obvious ‘ yes ’. Road transport provides many opportunities for understanding some local nuances ‘ on-the-ground ’. It helps to understand , demystify , communicate , and appreciate aspects that one can miss by just flying in and out of a given market .
As infrastructure across African countries improves , marketers are presented an opportunity to widen their markets . It is important to translate the macro policies and regional initiatives by highlighting the successes and challenges with cross border movements .
Some of the challenges arise as the personnel charged with implementation are either not aware or are turning a blind eye and retaining the status quo . For instance , the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS ) protocol on free movement within that region mandates member states to allow citizens of those countries with valid documents right of entry in their territories . However , a recent video on social media by a key African traveler / blogger showed a gap in implementation of this protocol . It is only by highlighting such incidents that movement across borders can ease .
Ease of road movement will also provide an opportunity for marketers to cover more parts of a given country . As people understand each other , the intra-Africa movement will ease . Products and brands developed within the region will also benefit . It will make it easier to have a cross border ‘ road-show ’ for products made within the region .
It is such micro activities that will provide ease in penetrating markets . The macro benefits will only be realized when the micro aspects are used as the building blocks for the foundation . It is when one travels across villages and realizes that ugali , nshima or fufu have key common aspects - and a jogoo or a Iwiza brand can be used to have the same outcome , but in addition , know that fufu is prepared often from flour out of cassava or plantain than maize ( corn ), unlike ugali or nshima .
Are you ready to take a road trip across borders in Africa ? May you have a safe one and remember to share your experience .
Isaac Ngatia 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 .
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