MLM in Africa: you can’t consult Africa from a spreadsheet
- Armand J. FRIESS
- 28 mai 2025
- 2 min de lecture
Dernière mise à jour : 18 juin 2025
(On Cultural Respect, Relational Business, and the Illusion of Armchair Expertise)
BUSINESS BEGINS WITH PRESENCE
In many African societies, politeness is not just about words — it's about presence. To show respect is to show up. It’s about being there in person, acknowledging others as individuals before speaking about business, ideas, or plans.
This isn’t anecdotal. It’s structural.
In these contexts, relational intelligence — the ability to navigate social codes, understand hierarchy, and build trust — is not a “nice-to-have.” It is the gateway to any serious interaction.
Handshake, eye contact, warm greetings, asking about family and well-being — these are not pleasantries. They are the cultural infrastructure through which trust and legitimacy are built. In much of Africa, a request without presence is a request without respect.
THE RISE OF THE "DATA-ONLY" EXPERTS
Despite this, there’s a growing phenomenon: a new generation of self-declared experts on Africa. They claim to guide businesses in direct selling, MLM, or “African market expansion,” often from thousands of kilometers away.
They have never set foot on the continent.
They haven’t sat through a church service, a town hall, a market morning.
They’ve never waited two hours for a meeting that begins "à l’africaine".
Yet they offer “practical advice” on markets they do not know.
Their tools? Charts, reports, data dashboards, and recycled “insights.”
Their references? Aggregates, trends, and second-hand interviews.
Their tone? Confident. Their relevance? Questionable.
But you cannot design an effective operational strategy for Africa from a PDF.
UNDERSTANDING REQUIRES IMMERSION
Africa is not a monolith. Its business environments are complex, nuanced, and deeply human. To understand them, one must live their rhythms.
To give advice about doing business in Africa — whether in sales, partnerships, or expansion — requires direct experience. Anything else is speculation dressed up as expertise.
We would never trust a football analyst who has never entered a locker room to advise a team.
We wouldn’t accept a chef who has only read cookbooks to run a kitchen.
Why, then, do we listen to “Africa experts” who have never been to Dakar, Lagos, Nairobi, or Kinshasa?
IN AFRICA, BUSINESS IS RELATIONAL
In fields like direct selling or MLM, this matters more than ever. These models rely on human networks, interpersonal trust, and cultural nuance. You don't grow them through mass emails. You grow them through relational depth.
Trust is not built through Zoom.
Respect isn’t communicated through automated outreach.
And strategy doesn't stick if it doesn’t understand how people feel, respond, and connect.
ADVISORS OR IMPOSTORS?
So what do we call those who provide guidance on Africa without experience of Africa?
Let’s be charitable: at best, they’re disconnected analysts.
More bluntly? They’re impostors.
And those who follow their advice risk wasting time, money, and relationships — not because Africa is “difficult,” but because the approach was never grounded in reality to begin with.
FINAL THOUGHT: PRESENCE BEFORE PERFORMANCE
📍 You don’t earn credibility in Africa through credentials alone.
📍 You earn it through presence, humility, and effort.
📍 You show up. You listen. You respect the codes.
Because in Africa, business is not first about systems. It’s about people.
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