Just because it works in Lagos doesn’t mean it will work across Africa
A model that works in one African capital is not a recipe for the whole continent: what should travel, and what should change.
The copy-paste trap
Lagos is impressive. Its size, its energy, its start-ups, its music, its brands, its millions of consumers. So when something works there, the temptation is immediate: “Can we roll it out across the rest of Africa?”
The question seems logical. Yet it already contains a mistake. Lagos is a formidable market, but it is not a scale model of the continent.
The same reasoning applies to Johannesburg, Nairobi, Casablanca or Abidjan. As soon as a model works in a major African capital, people often try to turn it into an exportable recipe.
That is exactly where the problems begin.
Fifteen markets, fifteen realities
African markets do not only differ in language or size. They differ in their very structure. Distribution, purchasing power, the weight of the informal economy, religion, digital habits, category maturity, payment methods, attitudes to status and to risk, the influence of family or of the salesperson: so many variables that can turn a strategy upside down.
A highly digital offer may work naturally in one market and need more human reassurance in another. A promotional mechanic can be extremely effective in one city and feel ordinary elsewhere. A campaign built on humour can create strong closeness in one country and lose all its subtlety once transposed to the neighbouring market.
Even when countries seem close, behaviours can be very far apart. Two French-speaking markets do not necessarily work the same way. Two highly urbanised cities do not give the same weight to price, brand or availability. And two neighbouring countries can have radically different distribution channels.
This is why the best pan-African strategies are not built on copy-paste. They start with an idea strong enough to travel, then accept changing what needs to change.
The right model is therefore not “one strategy, fifteen countries”. It is rather “one shared ambition, fifteen readings of the ground”.
An African market can be an excellent source of inspiration. It should never become the instruction manual for the continent.
Making a brand travel without distorting it
Expanding in Africa is not simply about going further. You need to know what must stay the same and what must change.
Do you have a pan-African ambition?
Let’s talk about how to make your brand travel.
