First off, do you want to grab those foreign currencies? I absolutely trust you do. One of the goals of business ventures is to efficiently leverage the global market to its advantage. But why this is just another strategy that looks beautiful on paper, executing it is an entirely different ball game.
There’s been a significant rise in the growth of African startups. Companies like Andela, Opay and Interswitch and so on have succeeded in achieving unicorn status amongst many others. While this is commendable, we want to see more African startups make their mark in the global marketplace.
Following the exponential rise in technological advancements which has turned the world into a global village, the need for companies to expand globally has been reiterated. There is unparalleled access to newer talents, customers and greater opportunities that come with startups expanding farther than their local market.
Today, going global is not only a possibility, it is almost a necessity as more reach will facilitate faster and easier actualisation of set objectives.
It is no doubt that Africa’s dream of prosperity in the tech industry through inclusive growth and sustainable development has seen positive growth in the past. This is because the continent has unfounded raw talented individuals who are determined to move the continent forward by changing communities through tech, innovation, and collaborations.
Many tech startups in Africa in their growth stage are facing what is known as the “valley of death”, a period where they are most susceptible to failure. The main challenge for these maturing African startups is accessing the financing, specifically venture funding, that will help them take their business to scale.
The question then arises; How can African startups excel in the global marketplace?
Foolproof Strategies for African Startups to Excel In The Global Market
To put Africa on the global map of success, African startup founders need to be more deliberate about scaling their startups within Africa and beyond while the government bodies in several African countries need to create a conducive atmosphere for these startups to survive.
In today’s read, we will discuss some of the strategies that can be put in place to make Africa a global tech giant.
Build a Conducive Environment for Tech to Flourish
One of the major drawbacks of Africa in the tech space is the government’s policies which makes it difficult for startups to grow. Although some of these countries are beginning to realise that such policies will only be detrimental to their economy in the long run. The Nigerian government for example, despite placing a ban on Cryptocurrency and other digital assets in Nigeria in February 2021 has since made a U-turn and has begun to encourage the use of digital assets in the country.
Healthy government policies help to foster growth and eliminate the problem of weak digital infrastructure which later results in ridiculously high operational costs. African governments should engage with startups to implement policies and legislations that cater to tech in their countries.
Founders should be able to seek support from the government through funding and also have their products and services trialled under the supervision of regulators in a low-risk environment. This will reduce the financial burden on many startups and help them to be properly positioned to scale the business.
Eliminating The Deficit of Digital Skills
According to a PwC research focused on private businesses, it was revealed that there was a shortage of digital skills in Africa, especially in the Western parts of the continent. Business leaders in Africa admitted that they lacked the required people to achieve the full benefits of digital transformation and this has only led to them recording huge losses.
The report revealed that:
“Losses are especially high in West Africa, where 82% of the companies report losses (78% in southern and East Africa). When it comes to digital efforts, 36% of leaders surveyed felt they lacked the right in-house talent to realise the full benefits. More than half seek to make up for the deficit by turning to external advice,”
If employers can’t find potential employees with sufficient skills to grow their tech company, it racks up revenue losses for them. Revenue will continue to be spent on paying salaries to employees that aren’t competent enough to increase the company’s income and this hampers the ability of these companies to innovate and reach their full potential.
To solve this problem, more opportunities to learn digital skills should be created and made affordable to willing individuals. More digitally skilled individuals mean that more Africans will be able to compete with their counterparts from other parts of the world.
Understanding the Market
A very important aspect of creating a digital product is ensuring that you are providing solutions to actual problems. If there is no need for your product, it won’t get any attention from the market.
Creators of new technologies need to carry out their research and create a product that people need. Prospective founders need to get closer to their market (target audience) and really understand their pain points. This will guide innovation decisions and help them to create effective solutions that have the potential to scale.
Developing vibrant tech ecosystems in Africa puts the continent on the path to digital sovereignty: building the technology and setting the rules that will shape our global future. Increasing Africa’s capacity to create technology will accelerate its ability to shape its digital future.
In the next part of this series, we will discuss more solutions that can be explored to position Africa as a giant in the global tech ecosystem.
