Building a business across African markets rarely follows a formula transplanted successfully from elsewhere, since each market’s infrastructure, regulatory environment and customer behaviour differs enough that a rigid playbook developed in one country frequently fails when applied unchanged in another. Nigerian education entrepreneur Kolawole Olajide, who built an e-learning platform aimed at expanding access to education across the continent, has been direct about this lack of a single working formula, describing success as depending more on adaptability and focus on core strengths than on any universal method.
Education access remains uneven across much of the continent, and entrepreneurs building genuinely useful technology to address that gap face markets that differ enough from one another that no single approach transfers cleanly between them.
Adaptability matters more than a fixed playbook
Founders operating across multiple African markets consistently find that rigid strategies developed for one market require genuine adjustment, not superficial tweaking, when applied to another, given how much infrastructure, regulation and customer behaviour can vary even between geographically close markets.
Playing to genuine strengths beats trying to do everything
Founders who focus deliberately on what their team is genuinely strong at, rather than attempting to match every capability a larger, better-resourced competitor might have, tend to build more defensible and sustainable positions than those spreading their limited resources thinly across too many fronts.
Team composition should reflect the complexity of the markets served
Building a team deliberately, with genuine care about complementary skills and shared understanding of the mission, matters more in markets this varied and complex than it might in a single, more homogeneous market, since the team itself needs to be equipped to handle a wider range of conditions.
Staying focused on the bigger picture sustains momentum through setbacks
Founders navigating genuinely difficult, uneven markets benefit from maintaining focus on their overall long-term objective rather than being derailed by any single market-specific setback, since operating across diverse markets means some difficulty in at least one market at any given time is close to inevitable.
The differences between operating environments across the continent are documented in the country-level business research published by the World Bank.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a single formula for building a successful business across multiple African markets?
No, according to founders with direct experience doing so. Each market’s infrastructure, regulation and customer behaviour differs enough that a rigid strategy from one market frequently requires genuine adjustment, not superficial tweaking, elsewhere.
Why does playing to a team’s genuine strengths matter more than trying to match every competitor capability?
Because spreading limited resources thinly across too many fronts, in an attempt to match a larger competitor’s full range of capabilities, tends to produce a weaker, less defensible position than focusing deliberately on what the team is genuinely strong at.
Does team composition need special consideration when operating across multiple markets?
Yes. A team built with genuine care about complementary skills and shared understanding of the mission is better equipped to handle the wider range of conditions that multiple, varied markets present.
How do experienced founders stay motivated through the inevitable setbacks of operating across diverse markets?
By maintaining focus on the overall long-term objective rather than being derailed by any single market-specific setback, since some difficulty in at least one market at any given time is close to inevitable.
Does this lack of a universal formula apply only to the education sector?
No, the underlying principle, adaptability over rigid replication across genuinely different markets, applies broadly to businesses operating across multiple African countries, not only education-focused ventures.
Originally published in April 2017. Updated September 2026 and rewritten in house voice, dropping the interview-transcript framing while keeping the original adaptability argument intact.
