Perhaps the last place saas folks are thinking of as the next big opportunity is – Africa. But according to Anish Shivdasani, CEO of Giraffe, for the next 30 years the opportunity will be there. Based on his experience scaling his job app to a million users he shared his takeaways at the 2019 SaaStr conference –
Facts : Between now and 2050, half of the world’s population growth (1.2 billion) will be in Africa. 5 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world, were African. 8 of 10 fastest Internet penetration markets are in here.
Africa is leapfrogging into the latest technologies. More than half of Kenya’s GDP is now transacted through M-Pesa a mobile banking and payment system. 9 of the top 10 adopters of off-grid solar, are in here.
Learnings:
1. Focus on a massive problem that is unique to the location.
2. Remove all barriers to user acquisition.
3. Build for non-tech savvy users
4. Use direct sales force in educating and informing users.
5. Users say they love your product. Doesn’t mean they will pay for it (nothing African there!)
There is a lot to learn in the 29 minute presentation. Broaden your horizon. Remember, you missed Asia.
Where I learnt it #232
SAAS in Africa: 10 Things We Learned From Scaling to 1M Users |(blog post)
