Market entry · North Africa
A market most expansion plans skip.
Young populations, fast digitisation, and a genuine shortage of vendors who understand how business actually gets done there. It rewards companies willing to do the work of understanding it, and punishes those who arrive with an off-the-shelf playbook.
Book a discovery callMorocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria · Arabic, French and English
Why this market, why now
Most international vendors either ignore the region or serve it remotely from Dubai or Paris. That leaves an opening for companies willing to build a real presence — and it means the competitive set is thinner than in any European market you'd otherwise be entering.
What breaks
Where a domestic playbook stops working here.
Relationships precede procurement
Deals move through introductions and demonstrated commitment more than through inbound and self-serve. A motion optimised for volume and speed will read as absent rather than efficient.
Language is not a nice-to-have
French is the working business language in the Maghreb; Arabic matters for public sector and larger enterprise. An English-only motion reaches a fraction of the market and signals you aren't serious about it.
Payment and currency friction is real
Cross-border payment, FX controls and local invoicing requirements vary by country and can materially shape how you package and price. This is structural and worth designing around early.
Public sector is a different sale entirely
Where the state or state-adjacent enterprises are significant buyers, tender processes and local partnership requirements change the motion fundamentally.
Why us here
Direct access, not a research subscription.
- Based in Casablanca — this is a home market, not a research assignment
- Arabic and French access to buyers who are functionally unreachable in English
- An ongoing research programme in the region, published rather than commissioned per client
- Working knowledge of how regional procurement and partnership norms actually operate
- Operator background in African e-commerce and fintech, not just advisory exposure
Questions
For some categories yes, for others it's better approached as a second-phase market or through partners. That's a real question the assessment answers rather than assumes — and we have no reason to talk you into a market you shouldn't enter.
Some categories can. Most find that remote coverage produces interest without conversion, because the trust-building the market expects doesn't happen over email.
Thinking about North Africa?
Twenty minutes, no pitch. Tell us what's forcing the timing and we'll tell you honestly whether this is the right market — including if we think it isn't.
Book a discovery call