Slums – Beyond the perception

Personally, I am not very fond of the term, slums. I think it is loosely defined term for a type of informal market. However, with all their problems and challenges there is a lot to learn from slums from a business perspective.
Entrepreneurism – slum areas are highly entrepreneurial, with a high degree of business activity. [...]

Key distribution issues in emerging markets – Updated

Channel strategy – companies must map out a clear channel strategy and identify which channel the selected distributor will service. A poorly defined channel strategy can severely damage any distributor roll-out. It is critical that companies understand how channels function and operate. One size does not fit all.
Selection criteria – companies need to understand the [...]

Within arms’ reach of the retailer and consumer

In a competitive environment, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies are increasingly forced to get within arms’ reach of the retailer and consumer. CPG companies that have a Route-to-Market strategy that includes a direct focus on mom-and-pop stores are the most successful in reaching the “base of the pyramid”.
The buy-in-bulk mentality is unlikely to have a [...]

Africa mobile technology – learnings from the not-for-profit sector

Mobile phone networks have proven to be a vital piece of technology for Africa. The technology is playing an important part in bridging the infrastructure divide and assisting entrepreneurs and businesses to improve efficiency. The mobile revolution is still in its infancy and organizations are slowly adopting new tools and technology to conduct business.  The [...]

Aquatabs – the Hybrid Social Distribution Model

Aquatabs – the Hybrid Social Distribution Model
Last month I spoke to Michael Gately, Marketing Director of Medentech.  The company is well known for its Aquatabs brand of rapidly dissolving tablets. It is one of the best known and most respected names in point-of-use water purification globally and is used to disinfect billions of litres of [...]

Evolving Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)

Managing supplier relationships used to be a zero sum game. Most companies focused on short terms goals where price was the main focus. Bullying suppliers were commonplace in some organizations. Employees took great pride in “facing down suppliers” and relationships were viewed on “how much money we will make”. However, with the increase in outsourcing [...]

Gambia is Good

On a recent trip to West Africa I had a chance to make a short stop in Gambia. As part of our company’s increased interest and research in the supply chain in social products, I made contact with Amy Hause, General Manager of Gambia is Good (GiG).

TN: Who is GiG?
GiG is a horticultural sales [...]

Lean: The emerging market challenge

Emerging economies with robust economic growth remain a significant opportunity for companies eager to grow and expand their business. With growth opportunities limited in the U.S. and Europe, these countries will be the battleground for companies in the years to come. Asian companies have improved their skills and practices and are gaining in their ability [...]

Cold chain challenges: Poor electricity supply

How do you create a cold chain in a city with constant power cuts and outages? This is one of the key questions that faced us on a recent project in Guinea, West Africa. Periodic power and water cuts are a daily burden for Conakry’s residents, not to mention the upcountry areas. For consumer goods [...]

Guinea distribution

Guinea Conakry has seen better days. Political instability and an uncertain economic outlook have not helped consumer confidence in this West African country. I have spent the last two weeks assessing a FMCG company’s distribution capability. The data tell an interesting story.

Wholesalers – like most of markets in Africa, FMCG companies rely heavily on wholesalers [...]

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