Dangote Group, Globacom, NB, others identified as pioneers of African integration

Dangote Group, Globacom, Nigerian Breweries have been identified as part of the six African companies pioneering African integration.

Other companies involved in the amalgamation of economic activities within the continent include Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa and Jumia.

This was contained in a new report released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) titled, ‘Pioneering one Africa: African corporations trail-blazing across the continent’.

BCG identified 150 companies that are blazing a trail toward a more integrated Africa. They consist of 75 Africa-based companies and an equal number of multinational companies (MNC) that have established impressive track records in Africa and are contributing to further integration.

The African pioneers come from 18 countries on the continent with 32 based in South Africa, 10 in Morocco; Kenya and Nigeria are each home to six, four are from Egypt, and two from Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritius, Tanzania, and Tunisia.

The MNCs are a global group, with France, the United Kingdom, and the United States most strongly represented.
At the same time, a dozen MNCs from China, India, Indonesia, Qatar, and the UAE are active across Africa.

The report stated that despite the barriers of fragmentation, economic integration in Africa is not only taking place, but also gathering speed.

The group sees more signs of this progress with each passing month, quarter, and year, stating that the primary drivers come from within the continent, led by African business. Africa invests more in Africa, Africa trades more with Africa, and Africans travel more to Africa.

The report also highlights eight factors that explain how these companies are making an impact which include the following: The active expansion of their footprint across several African countries; daring to make significant Greenfield investments; usage of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as a way to accelerate their expansion; building strong African brands.

Others include local innovation to adapt to the African consumer; investment in local talent and developing people advantage; building a local ecosystems and connecting Africa by facilitating the movement of people, goods, data, and information.

In his remarks, BCG Senior Partner and co-author of the report, Patrick Dupoux, said: “Fragmentation in Africa is much greater than anywhere else in the world, and it adds significantly to the economic challenges facing countries that typically lack the critical mass to compete globally.”

“Despite these barriers, we see more signs of economic integration with each passing month, quarter, and year. The primary drivers come from within the continent, led by African business. Africa invests more in Africa, Africa trades more with Africa, and Africans travel more to Africa.”

However, the report gives credit to African corporate entrepreneurs who, by investing early in building a footprint on the continent, are giving a sense of reality to the integration of Africa.

A BCG partner and report co-author, Lisa Ivers, said: “If the past decade has demonstrated anything, it’s that these companies are masterful at overcoming adversity.

“They’ve built impressive track records of creating value for themselves and advancing the development of the continent, and its many economies. They know that continuing to drive the integration of the African markets where they do business is one key way to pave the road to greater success.”

According to the report, between 2006 to 2007 and 2015 to 2016, the average annual amount of African foreign direct investment, money that African companies invested in African countries nearly tripled, from $3.7 billion to $10 billion (see Over the same period, the average number of intraregional M&A deals each year jumped from 238 to 418, with African-led transactions representing more than half of all African deals in 2015.

Meanwhile, average annual intra-African exports increased from $41 billion to $65 billion, and the average annual number of African tourists (Africans traveling in Africa) rose from 19 million to 30 million. African tourists made up more than half of all tourists on the continent in 2015 to 2016.