A global FMCG leader needed to gain a deeper insight into the major trends shaping the consumer landscape in Africa and identify how these trends might converge in ways which could represent opportunities for discontinuous scale growth over the next 5 years. The company needed to identify potential strategic partnerships designed to unlock such growth, focusing on Route to Consumer solutions, specifically ways in which people discover, shop and experience brands. The recommendations needed to be actionable in their priority markets and demonstrate potential for regional scaleability.
We conducted macro analysis of the political, regulatory, commercial and social drivers of change in Africa and used this to identify six mega trends impacting the client’s ambitions and operations on the continent. We explored each mega trend and its implications for the client, created and prioritised potential interventions in terms of actionability, likelihood and impact and explored relevant strategic partnerships to implement the highest priority opportunities. Finally, we created a set of criteria for assessing the value of potential partnerships in order to support effective engagement.
We equipped the client with a robust understanding of the key political, commercial, social, environmental and technological trends in Africa which will shape its operating environment and the consumer landscape for the next 5-10 years. We helped the team visualise and explore how a confluence of these trends might play out, creating major risks to navigate and/or opportunities for discontinuous growth, enabling the client to understand the implications of what is happening today and develop a proprietary view of the future. The client will use the framework to inform business strategy and business model design, focus and align people and increase influence so it can proactively shape its evolving operating environment.
