africon has published its slide of the month in the economic daily paper “Märkte Weltweit”. In the article, difficulties of doing market research in African countries are underlined and an “African approach” is presented. This has been illustrated on the example of a big IAM automotive aftermarket study.

German investors are still cautious when it comes to the African market. Differences in culture and doing business are big and scare many companies. Corruption and the importance of the black market seem to be unmeasurable. For these reasons, African business seems to be unpredictable. However, the africon article shows that extensive research on the ground can complete lacks in traditional statistical studies. The slide of the month that was published in “Märkte Weltweit” indicates that about 59 % of the spare parts in automotive aftermarket in Nigeria come from the open market. In order to raising reliable numbers, africon visited about 150 workshops and interviewed 48 experts as well as 500 consumers. Also, we created our own data base on the existing automotive brands evaluating more than 12 500 photos of the cars in Nigeria’s streets. That’s what we call an African approach for a study on the African market. And that is the reason why the regional knowledge and presence on the ground are that important when it comes to business in Africa. For a market entry, German companies should have partners with a very good knowledge of the African continent by their sides. That is one of the strengths of africon.