With the digitalization of the world, it is now possible not only to connect people far from your home but also to do business with them. The internet has opened doors. Customers, partners, investors and talent are one click away. However, with limited infrastructure and more competition, things have turned a bit hard for entrepreneurs.
If you run a business in Africa and want to compete with brands around the world, you don’t need a robust mechanism but a clear digital playbook. But to win on that global stage, you must build the right foundations, protect your business, and use tools that level the playing field.
1. They Must Have An Official Digital Presence
For entrepreneurs or any other business entities, a digital presence is a must because you are selling your product or services beyond the physical store. If you want to target customers on a global level, they must have access to your digital shop, in this case, an official website. You can show your brand’s individuality, your USP, and whatever things that make your service stand out from the crowd on your website. This will give you an upper hand in connecting with the emotions of customers online.
While curating your website content and design, you should focus on your customers’ expectations, their cultural details, and plan your brand’s statement that caters to a global audience. You can add FAQs, product details, your contact details, exclusive deal details, etc., to gain customers’ attention and market your products & services smartly. The more you give clear and detailed information, the more credible and reliable your company will sound and gain an edge over your competitors.
2. They Should Have A User-Friendly Interface And Easy Access Of Their Products
Most people use their mobile phones to search for or access services or buy products. So, African entrepreneurs must focus on making their business mobile-friendly. By doing so, they can be visible and even get frequent clients from different countries. Instead of a complicated interface, the website or the app should have fast-loading pages, clear calls to action, and simple checkout flows. This will make your business accessible to more customers.
Apart from the interface, make sure that your online website’s payment methods are digitally secured. With the rise of digital transactions, online scams and fraud are on the rise. Since you are focusing on a global audience, make sure that they not only have smooth access but a safe transaction experience. To prevent this, you can use a VPN to maintain private connections and protect sensitive data.
African entrepreneurs can go for reliable paid versions of a VPN service to safeguard their customers’ privacy from digital theft, and in return trust of customers in the long run. Once you download VPN and activate it, the VPN will encrypt your device’s data, create secure links between offices and remote employees, protect sensitive data from being exposed, etc. In short, gives you overall protection from unprotected internet networks.
3. Choose The Right International E-Commerce Platforms
African entrepreneurs must understand that to target global audiences and beat their competitors, they must choose proper international e-commerce platforms and market their products and services properly on them. Apart from listing on regional platforms like Jumia, Konga, etc., they can list their products on international platforms like Amazon to reach a wider audience.
Moreover, to boost their digital presence on such huge platforms, they need to work on SEO, have local language content, and storytelling art to market products outside their home markets. A well-structured plan, including a properly optimized website and e-commerce presence, will definitely give an edge over your global competitors.
4. A Well-Optimized Social Media Network
In today’s time, social media platforms are playing a crucial role in marketing products and services. In fact, there are several influencers with huge fan followings that could impact your brand’s identity. African entrepreneurs can take advantage of social media platforms and influencers to get global exposure, market their unique products at competitive prices, and cater to a section of users easily on a global level, if done right!
Moreover, they can also use social media platforms to engage with users, market their new arrivals, exchange direct connections with them, or tell about their latest deals and discounts to attract customers. This kind of digital connection and interaction would definitely give African businesses an opportunity to compete with others strategically.
5. Promote Digital Payment Methods For Global Customers
This one is extremely important because you all are doing this for money, and in this case, money from different countries. So, African entrepreneurs must have secure digital payment systems that are compatible and safe between different mobile money platforms and banks to create a seamless financial ecosystem.
Moreover, your clients should not face any digital security problems while completing transactions. Entrepreneurs can study their competitors’ existing business models and learn from their action plans as well. By doing so, you can bring the best practices under your company and make them your strength to compete with your rivals.
Final Words
In a nutshell, I would suggest that African entrepreneurs audit their website’s performance regularly on mobile and low bandwidth and be quick to fix speed issues. In addition to this, they should also add MFA and VPN use for remote access to business systems.
Apart from these, they should integrate at least one local mobile payment option and one international gateway for the ease of the business and catering to global customers. Initially, they can list a few products on a regional marketplace and measure performance for 30 days and then plan accordingly.
African entrepreneurs already have many advantages. They have a growing online market, creative talent, and a cost base that lets them test faster than many incumbent global players. Just combine those advantages with core digital habits, and they are all set to give tough competition to their global competitors.
https://chiexclusive.com/how-african-entrepreneurs-can-leverage-digital-innovation-for-global-growth
https://www.ritaafrica.com/the-future-is-digital-what-africa-must-do-to-compete-globally/
