April 19th, 2021- 11:00 AM
The African continent is an ideal spot for business investments and has a progressive economic potential because of its favorable climate, agriculture, natural resources, wildlife, and improved governmental and macroeconomic policies.
Unfortunately, a spot so rich in opportunities has its downsides where researchers are being challenged trying to understand the African consumer market.
Despite the massive population and growing consumer classes, many African countries are still struggling to grow their economies well enough to be suitable for their progressive populations.
Tapping into markets that operate vastly different from other developed regions around the world is problematic for global investors and businesses.
Problematic characteristics of the continent such as poor infrastructure, conflicting access to technology, and a reliance on informal trade to sell goods make the African landscape what it is today.
While it has its beauty, diversity, and potential, various extreme parts of Africa make it difficult to understand the continent as a whole and as one large market.
Challenges of Market Research in Africa
Kasi Insight, like various other businesses, uses market research to gain a better understanding of a certain market and consumer base.
African markets are difficult to conduct market research in due to these factors:
Lack of Communications & Technology Access
Having access to communication tools such as the Internet and mobile phones varies across the continent of Africa. While the percentage of mobile and smartphones are increasing throughout he urban populations, they’re still low in rural areas.
Whether or not a population has access to the World Wide Web depends on the exact population that’s being studied.
A lack of technology access in Africa also limits the methods of conducting research throughout their populations, especially when researchers are looking to gather a sample that considers lower socioeconomic groups or even a sample that is nationally representative.
There are so many different populations in one given African country that accurately studying each is not only challenging but almost impossible.
How are businesses supposed to reach consumers that they don’t know exist, because those consumers don’t have access to the internet or other technologies?
Businesses like us, Kasi Insight, have the tools and resources to uncover these growth opportunities across Africa through speed, agility, and innovation.
Poor Infrastructure
When there’s a lack of clean water, electricity, adequate roads, and accurate maps in an area, it is difficult for researchers to conduct in-person studies when they need to.
Researching and gathering an adequate sample size across the vast lands of African countries can take researchers months, especially when data is being collected from more rural populations.
A Large Number of Languages & Cultures
Studies show that there are at least 1,500 spoken languages throughout Africa.
While different regions speak multiple languages or dialects, research has to be extremely specific to the population being studied.
Africa’s diversity is seen as a positive throughout its cultural qualities, however, it also means that the same research needs to be conducted in various languages at once.
In addition to diversification, certain African populations can also hinder market research efforts because of their skepticism of outsiders. Because of this, in-person or telephone interviews must be conducted where the recruiters are specifically trained for the population that they’re studying and responsible for.
Opportunities for Market Research in Africa
Despite the challenges that researchers have throughout the African continent, there is still a need for more accurate market data in order for global and local businesses to shift into their lands to understand specific African markets and audiences.
In order for businesses to conduct effective market research in Africa, they should follow these guidelines:
Consider Which Research Methodology Works Best
It’s important to consider your research method options and base those on the population that you are trying to reach and study.
Whether your method of choice is an experiment, survey, questionnaire, case study, focus group, observation, or any method, you have to consider the likeliness of gaining accurate information through the population that is being studied, first.
If your project has a higher budget and is looking to reach rural populations, in-person research methods may be more beneficial to you. Projects with lower budgets may choose to conduct their research through the web, if possible.
Narrow Your Target Audience
Due to Africa’s diversity, it’s nearly impossible to apply an accurate market research study to the continent as a whole, unless they are split into smaller, sub-populations. Researchers should focus on a specific country, region, or demographic group in order to yield the best results for the research.
Leverage Your Resources
If your business doesn’t have what it takes to accurately conduct market research throughout any African population, you should hire an expert like us, Kasi Insight.
At Kasi Insight, we use speed, agility, innovation, and scale as our research solutions, in order to discover and solve Africa’s unique challenges.
When you hire us to do the research for you, your business will uncover real-time insights and research that are true to be beneficial for you and your business’ prosperity.
For further information about how our business can help you, visit our website today.
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Contact our team today to explore how our consumer intelligence can empower your decision-making process. Win with confidence with Kasi insights https://www.kasiinsight.com/thehub
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