African market penetration and market development

The African markets continue to offer companies an opportunity for long term sustainable growth.

The African market is a complex one with vast differences across countries, regions - North, South, East & West and the people across the continent in terms of their culture, aspirations, perceptions, needs and wants . No company can be successful in penetrating this market if they do not understand the intricacies of each of these, often trying to match their existing product range into an African country with very little success.

Markets need to be analysed, route to market needs to be understood and the consumer buying behaviour of each country needs to be understood and only then, product can be developed for that particular market.

One size does not fit all.

OpenBox has the experience and understands what it takes for you to successfully penetrate these markets.

We can assist you in understanding a market and developing or refining your products according to the market, or we can simply assist you in finding a suitable distributor in a particular country if your products are deemed already suitable. 

This is a lot more complex and detailed than what you would expect, so please contact us for more details.

In which of the 54 countries would you like to see your brand?

Senegal, Liberia, DR Congo, Gabon, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Madagascar, Rwanda, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Kenya, South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Burundi, Mozambique, Zambia, Chad, Niger, Sierra Leone, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Mali, Gambia, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Chad, South Sudan, Guinea, Burundi, Mauritius, Congo, Equatorial Guinea ...

OpenBox has a database of key distribution companies across Africa including the contact person and decision makers.

More about Africa:

The middle class (350 million) continues to grow at a very rapid rate.

There are certain barriers to entry which makes it difficult to enter, including; lack of understanding about the market and how it operates, market information, economic issues, availability of finance or currency, communication in different languages, complexities of channels of distribution (route to market), cultural difference and more.

Channels of Distribution (route to market)

Understanding the route to market can be one of the most difficult areas of distribution in Africa. The starting point is to partner with a suitable distribution company who understands the channels and has the ability to reach them. Coverage and numeric distribution are key to gaining long term sustainable growth.

Middle East Market Penetration & Market Development

The principals remain the same as with getting your brands or products into any new market. The first priority is to ensure that there is potential demand for your product and that it meets the market requirements. This should be followed by developing a relationship with the distributors in the country into which you wish to distribute. 

We have an extensive database of distributors across the MENA countries, making the time taken to get traction in the new market far shorter.