Africa is a rapidly developing continent with many unique problems to solve. Software can play a key role in solving many of these problems, but African markets are complex, nuanced and very different from developed markets. Here are some key insights we learned from starting and scaling Giraffe- a recruitment SaaS business- in South Africa

1. SAAS IN AFRICA: 10 THINGS
WE LEARNED FROM SCALING
TO 1M USERS
ANISH SHIVDASANI
Founder & CEO
Giraffe
@anish1

2. Anish Shivdasani
Founder & CEO
Giraffe
@anish1
SaaS in Africa: 10 Things We Learned From
Scaling to 1M Users

3. What do you think of when you think of Africa?
Disease Corruption Poverty
Famine War

4. Africa is booming…
Half of the world’s 10 fastest growing
economies in 2018
Half the world’s population growth to
2050
8 out of 10 of the fastest growing
internet penetration markets in 2018
and even leapfrogging…
Sources: UN World Population Prospects; IMF World Economic Outlook Database; Digital in 2018, we are social & Hootsuite
>50%
of Kenya’s GDP
transacted
through mobile
9/10
of the top off-grid
solar adopters are
African

5. Africa is a tough place to launch and scale a startup
Limited access to
capital
Immature startup
ecosystem
Non tech-savvy
users
Scarce talent Small market size

6. Focus on a massive, uniquely local pain point
1

7. Remove all barriers to acquisition
2

8. Build for non tech-savvy users
3

9. Build a DSF even if the economics don’t make sense
4

10. Know when customers are lying to you
5

11. Become a THING
6

12. Each successive attempt at PM fit gets harder
7

13. Compete for talent with mission, not money
8

14. #hustle
9

15. Africa is ready…
10

16. THANK YOU