By Kathy Gibson – The next stage in technology growth will come from Africa. Comprising one-sixth of the earth’s surface and a youthful population of 1,2-billion people, Africa is ideally poised as the next growth hotspot for the tech industry.
But for many vendors, either making their first foray into Africa or with a small foothold already, it’s not easy to break into the many disparate countries that make up the continent.
Indeed, the very size of the continent, with its 54 different countries, hundreds of languages and varying legislative environments, can prove a challenge that’s impossible for many to surmount.
This is where having a trusted partner is very welcome. And that is the rationale behind the launch of Vendor Connection, which specialises in local channel management services to multi-national vendors across the continent.
The company is headed up by Riaan Badenhorst, who knows exactly what challenges vendors face working on the African market. Badenhorst (company co-founder and shareholder) joined Vendor Connection from Kaspersky, where he spent the last nine years of his career heading up the vendor’s South Africa office and African expansion.
“I’ve seen the challenges of dealing with distributors and partners in Africa up close,” he says. “It’s not an easy task, and there is no single blueprint for how to do it most effectively.”
Despite the challenges, vendors are keen to set up on the continent, Badenhorst adds. “All of the vendors recognise that Africa is the only true emerging market; so they all want to know how to make their businesses succeed on the continent.”
Countless vendors have tried and failed to break into Africa, he points out. “We all know about the companies that set up a one-man operation to drive African business. If these companies do have any success it is usually through a handful of direct contracts; very seldom through a cohesive network of distributors and partners.”
Vendor Connection has been set up to leverage the expertise of a team that boasts more than 100 years collectively in successfully opening up technology businesses in Africa.
The company works with vendors looking to break into the African market as well as with companies already set up in one of more geography but wanting to expand on the continent.
Badenhorst explains that Vendor Connection offers a range of services that can be tailored to suit the needs of any ICT vendor, at any stage of their African expansion.
Succinctly described as “a local-office as a service”, Vendor Connection starts by thoroughly researching a vendor’s product or service offering, Badenhorst says.
Thereafter, it layers the required services and operations needed to bring the strategy to fruition.
The services include the following:
- Creating, implementing and executing a go-to-market strategy;
- Setting up a new distribution channel or optimising an existing one;
- End to end distribution account management;
- Growing and managing local partner channels;
- Localising marketing collateral and campaigns;
- Developing a local partner programme;
- Assisting with local price list management to ensure competitiveness;
- Local pre-sales support;
- Local technical support call centre support;
- Local training and enablement;
- Localised social media management;
- Local event management; and
- Retail buyer engagement and merchandising.
“The services we offer are modular and can be tailored to the vendor’s specific requirements,” Badenhorst says. “We can adapt our services and solutions to fit the exact needs and budget of any vendor.
“The bottom line is that we help vendors to gain market share in Africa,” he adds.
The team is able to offer this range of services based on their in-market experience.
Vendor Connection is jointly owned by Riaan Badenhorst along with Simon Campbell-Young and Robert Brown, who recently set up Cyber Security South Africa (CSSA) as a cyber-security technology distributor operating across the continent. All three entrepreneurs have years of experience working in Africa and have brought that experience to bear in the new offering.
Badenhorst stresses that the Vendor Connection team operates independently, with its own team of African veterans. The office if based in Johannesburg, with a network of resources throughout the continent.