Challenge
The client, a mobile operator with operations across MEA and a leading mobile money provider in Africa, wanted to gain a comprehensive view of the SME market in Africa. The SME market is an important segment in Africa, but due to diverse and fragmented requirements and limited budgets, it is often very difficult to adequately address the needs of this market segment.
As such, the client engaged IDC to help it develop a clear understanding of the main ICT challenges, create multiple targetable SME profiles, identify a high-growth solutions area, and conceptualize a comprehensive SME go-to-market strategy. Uganda was selected as a pilot to ensure the efficacy of the methodology and outcomes, before rolling the project out to other operations across Africa.
Approach & Methodology
Drawing on extensive market research, insights, and analyst recommendations, IDC sought to provide the client with a clear market sizing and segmentation assessment that answered the following questions:
- What opportunity exists for the various services areas identified by the client?
- What are the key segments within the SME space and how should they be approached?
- How will these markets develop and grow over the next five years?
- Where will the future opportunities lie and how should the client address them?
Key Benefits & Outcomes
- IDC presented the client with detailed SME segment profiles that included a view of the client's market share in each segment.
- IDC mapped the client's products to each segment profile with suggested services bundles showing a clear hierarchy of value from lowest to highest spend.
- IDC provided the client with detailed channel and partnership strategies aligned to each segment profile based on the complexity of the services to be consumed.
- IDC provided a competitive overview showing the strengths of each competitor and their respective market shares within each segment.
- To help the client capitalize on each segment's unique requirements, IDC provided detailed guidance on go-to-market strategies aligned to each of the individual segment profiles.