AFRICONNECTION

Africans, like everyone else crave interaction with others. Yet, as the West promotes individualism and the ‘unique identity’ as the mantra du jour, many Africans continue to perceive their identities in the context of a tribe or community. This sense of community – be it for profitable, practical, or even social purposes has long been heralded as a pinnacle of African culture.

Or maybe we can even call this quintessentially African, thriving desire for togetherness and connection with others, an analogue precursor to the now global and digitalized P2P / sharing economy.

Mobile connectivity and the online world has expanded both the scope and scale of Africans’ networks across the continent and beyond, making it easier to connect with friends, strangers and brands, in both the real and virtual realms. These connections may be old news in the West in 2014, but the constant, timely, relevant, social, practical and personal interactions are still in their infancy in Africa, and their potential to solve African problems is undeniable.

3 strands of AFRICONNECTION looked at here:

1. ME-2-WE
Connecting peers around shared interests and niche concerns.

2. TOGETHER WE STAND(ARDS)
Connecting people to serve community needs.

3. BY-PRODUCT PRACTICES
Leveraging existing connections, platforms and services for alternative purposes.

In Africa, mainstream global social platforms are being adopted at a significant rate, proving that like everyone else, Africans enjoy connecting with others.

Yet unlike in other parts of the world, where social networks are frequently used to address niche issues*, niche topics within Africa have often been forgotten.

* Note how the now viral ‘ice bucket challenge’ used Facebook as a podium to raise awareness about the previously unknown ALS disease.

Connecting with others to share resources and responsibilities is an idea embedded deep in African culture. What’s more, the resilience of communities, whether in the form of tribes, regions or demographics, demonstrates that Africans are not as easily seduced by ‘individualism’ as their Western counterparts.

One way this is evolving in 2014? The intrinsically African zeal to support and share with the community is synchronising with emerging, tech-fueled collaborative consumption models and platforms.

There’s no doubt that many (mainly young) Africans today, are enjoying a variety of options that allow them to directly connect with brands and other people. And despite the growing number of new, more local/niche innovations on offer, the ubiquity, reliability and network effect of mainstream and global online platforms (WhatsApp, Instagram, Airbnb, etc), means that rather than one type replacing the other, most consumers will engage different platforms for different purposes. This phenomenon has implications for brands that want to tap into AFRICONNECTION without necessarily reinventing the wheel.