Africa is an ideal market for startups launching new tech innovations, including international companies, because Africans are much quicker than their global counterparts to adopt new solutions, according to Jennifer Moukouma, director of partnerships at Tiller.
Tiller is a French startup which produces point of sale (PoS) tablets, with a backend solution, to help small and medium merchants accept payments.
Speaking at the second annual AHUB in Cape Town, Moukouma said over 10 per cent of the company’s customers are in Africa – although there has been no marketing of the product on the continent. She said this points to Africa’s eagerness to adopt new tech solutions which have the potential to boost business.
“People in Africa adopt new tech solutions faster, whereas in France, for example, we have to education a lot,” Moukouma said.
In Africa, many merchants work without any tech support – no cash register, or solutions for stocktaking, and accounting -, and as such people are happy to adopt a new useful technology when it launches, Moukouma said. This compares to the French market, where people prefer to stick with outdated legacy solutions, she said.
“When you come into this market, you don’t have to convince people about a solution, they’re keen to adopt pro-business tools,” she said.
According to Moukouma, Africa is an interesting market, because there’s not much competition – and no ingrained habits or products -, but high levels of demand, and a need for new solutions. As a result, Africa is a very attractive market for tech startups, including international startups.
“Here in Africa you don’t have to change old habits, because there were none. It’s more being a bit aggressive about your product, but there’s no old habits to change, you just need to educate about your product,” she said.
