Africa Updates Q & A with Mitchell Prather, Managing Director, Djembe Communications.
What prompted Djembe Communications to enter the African market? How did the idea for your business come about?
Djembe Communications was initially founded to support a targeted number of Angolan clients and initiatives starting with the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund, or FSDEA. Then, just over three years ago, a strategic decision was made to expand Djembe’s offering to support additional Sub-Saharan African clients. A vision was created to make Djembe the communications partner of choice for Africa. However, we recognized this vision can only be realized by building a team of communicators who are passionate about their careers and passionate about Africa. It is a multifaceted vision, as our role is to ensure global best practices of the communications field are applied, while executing them from an African insights perspective first and foremost. By building this two pronged approach in our DNA, we believe that Djembe Communications is uniquely qualified to realize this vision of becoming the communications partner of choice for Africa.
Mitchell Prather, Managing Director, Djembe Communications.
What is your take on the outlook of the African economy, especially with regards to foreign investment? Where are the bright spots?
Africa’s economic growth potential, coupled with the region’s very young demographic and burgeoning middle class segment still present significant market opportunities that continue to lead to a dramatic increase in demand from companies wanting to invest in brand building to develop a competitive edge. At the same time, many government-related entities are increasingly focused on enhancing their reputation in international and local markets, which is crucial to attracting foreign investment while enhancing public confidence in these critical institutions.
We are also seeing a strong commitment from African governments to diversify local economies and focus more on fostering the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. Recent market challenges have only demonstrated the importance to accelerate this economic diversification. It is also important to note that six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa and the region is expected to grow further. Investors are always on the lookout for new opportunities in growing markets, because, as Chinese markets wobble and global commodity prices fall, countries in Africa continue to invest billions into major infrastructure projects, including ports, highways and strategically important business-critical industries such as financial services, healthcare and hospitality--all of which require world-class communications programs.
Location, location, location is an important factor for many businesses. How did you decide on the location/s for your business?
To deliver on our promise of helping Africa reach its potential, we have built a wholly owned network of ten offices in key African and international markets. A great deal of our work involves the delivery of strategic consultancy to African-based organizations, which is why it was so important for us to have a wholly owned network of offices in select African markets. The Luanda office has grown to over ten employees and we are expanding our team in places such as Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique and Nigeria.Our Luanda and Maputo offices spearhead the agency‘s Lusophone client engagements and work to develop and execute client programs. While our Rabat office supports our client’s digital engagement efforts. We are uniquely positioned to act as a bridge between Africa and the rest of the world, which is why our global hub is Dubai and this office acts as the consultancy’s Centre of Excellence for Communications.
The Dubai hub is important because we are connecting organizations between Africa and the Middle East, as well as further afield in Asia, Europe and North America. Furthermore, we are building an African Centre of Excellence in Maputo that will act as a catalyst to educate the entire international Djembe team and key clients entering the region on the opportunities that Africa has to offer.
By having two Centers of Excellence, Djembe Communications is positioned in the African market to realize its vision of being the communicators partner of choice, an achievement that no agency within Africa or in the international market has achieved thus far.
How do you find people to bring into your organization that truly care about the organization the way you do? Has it been easy to find the right talent in Africa?
It is easy to find people passionate about their communication careers, and it is easy to find people passionate about Africa, but when you find people passionate about both their communication careers and Africa, you can build a powerful, compelling offering that truly helps Africa realize its full potential. This simple yet powerful combination has proven successful as Djembe has experienced phenomenal growth over the last few years delivering award winning campaigns.
What’s your short term, and long term view of PR agencies in Africa? - How different is it now, compared to a decade ago?
Even before the last global recession and the impact that it has had on the center of gravity away from Europe towards the East and Africa, there was a clear movement in communications towards reputation management. Throughout the 2000’s we saw issues management and corporate responsibility emerge as important brand management platforms. This period coincided with the acceleration of growth in a number of African markets and because of the global nature of media, there was a demand for a more mature sophisticated consultancy that understood Africa from an African perspective first and foremost, while adopting global best communication practices. Given that some African countries have difficult reputational legacies such as famine, poverty or conflict. It has become incredibly important for communications consultancies such as Djembe to know how to engage local and regional stakeholders with a new narrative of transparency and accountability while promoting Africa’s real progress on the global stage.
PR agencies now include the full gamut of traditional media work such as building relationships with global opinion formers and media – but there is also a growing need for internal training and capacity building. Social media has also transformed communications around the world and as a frontier market, Sub-Saharan Africa has its own unique challenges from a technological perspective. Building integrated campaigns that communicate through traditional and new digital channels to a diverse social and economic populace is critical, particularly when communicating developments in crucial issues such as job creation, capital market development and social development progress includingclean drinking water access and improved education opportunities.
Can you tell us more about Djembe’s new research arm, Djembe Insights, and why you’ve started it?
Further to Djembe Communications believing in Africa and being an African communications agency, we must promote African insights, both within the region and on an international stage. Djembe Insights is our research capability that is designed to garner stronger African insights that we not only bring to key stakeholders but we useto build more relevant communications solutions for our clients. Our research capabilities will continue to expand as we always want to have the latest thinking in African markets that enables us to better understand the real issues clients face as they look to pursue opportunities in Africa.
By examining the results of market research across a broad range of sectors across Africa. Can you identify a few common problems?
Economic and political challenges, cumbersome regulatory environments, limited quality communications and poor infrastructure are some of the issues African countries need to address immediately to encourage inward investment. However, there is a growing realization amongst African nations to overcome these issues. Countries such as Angola, Ghana, Mozambique and Nigeria are looking to foster an investor friendly environment in their respective countries. These Sub-Saharan nations are amongst the top five destinations for capital investment. Angola is a particularly impressive story – it ended a decades-long civil war in 2002 and since then has enjoyed genuine peace and stability, however, the country is facing new challenges given the oil price pressure.
Who’s your African customer, how would you describe African customers? Is insufficient knowledge of customers behaviors, and attitudes a common issue in the African market?
Underpinning much of our consulting assignments is the drive towards economic diversification in some of Africa’s biggest markets. The slump in oil prices makes this an even more pressing need. So, countries that have a historic reliance on extractive industries are hungry for communications services that help them to promote foreign investment, foster enterprise and reach out across the populace to promote innovation. Six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa – if these countries are to maintain momentum they need to build and nurture their reputations around the world and gain a stronger voice locally, regionally and internationally.We see these countries as being central to our client acquisition strategies.
From a customer behaviour perspective, you need to understand that while Sub-Saharan countries face similar challenges they all have unique requirements when it comes to communications. No one size fits all approach can be adopted nor can just a truly locally centric approach ensure success either. That is why we believe Djembe Communications is well positioned to help clients build and manage their reputations as they look to realize Africa’s potential.
What’s your experience working with Angolan government entities, such as the country’s sovereign wealth fund and venture capital fund?
In the last decade countries such as Angola, Ghana, Mozambique and Nigeria have made remarkable progress. Angola is a particularly impressive story – it ended a decades-long civil war in 2002 and since then has enjoyed genuine peace and stability. Consequently, we are witnessing the country making a genuine push to build public infrastructure including road and rail networks, hospitals, schools and colleges. There is a strong realisation amongst the government organizations that in order to build the economy there is a need for diversifying the economy and attracting inward investments. In order to do so it is critical to enhance Angola’s reputation on an international stage – which is key to attracting foreign capital into the country. We work very hard to change Angola’s narrative in order to build the profile of our clients and associated entities in the international market.
It has been an interesting journey for us to say the least. Angola and Africa at large clearly have fascinating stories for us as communicators to cultivate. We are successful because we have a deep understanding of the stakeholder issues and we work very hard with our clients to address these issues by providing greater context to the opportunities and challenges. While undoubtedly issues across the region remain, it is important to provide the right context: Africa has enormous long-term potential. In fact, the pace of change has been so frenetic over the past decade that many of the region’s countries are growing at a rate that most western countries can only dream of. So these are clearly exciting yet challenging times for Africa.
A little off script. If you could talk to one person in Africa right now, who would it be and why? Also what African Country has been the easiest for your PR firm to work in?
For me it can’t be one person, but a collection of people who strive to make Africa better and more prosperous. I love talking to people who work in their communities striving to make a difference for ordinary Africans. Over the course of decades working in Africa, I have been fortunate to meet people with fascinating life stories, some who have single handily created entities that have made a real difference. For example, I met with African grandmothers who became mothers to orphaned children with HIV. I have met with teachers who work in the most deprived areas but are committed to providing an education to disadvantaged children. Hearing these stories has always provided me with inspiration reinforcing my strong desire to make communications play a stronger role in addressing the social challenges Africa faces.
In terms of market differences for working as a communications firm in Africa, each market is unique. Given Djembe’s unique approach to building communications from the ground up within each African country, we apply our local knowledge on how to get results. Djembe clients also benefit from our Center of Excellence approach toward communications that allows us to apply the best thinking to each client campaign regardless of the market. By incorporating strong local insights andadopting a more client centric approach, for Djembe no market is easier or hard to get results.
Who has been your greatest inspiration?
My inspiration was both of my parents. From them I learned very simple yet powerful values to guide me in life. According to my father, the worst person in the world is a liar or a thief, circumstances did not matter. You always must act in an honourable manner according to my father, who also taught me the value of public service. My father was a life-long politician who believed that serving the public was the only role of a politician – it was not a career. From my mother, I learned the values of hard work and having the tenacity to succeed. I also learned that people and their views matter. These simple and yet powerful values have guided me throughout my personal and professional life both of which have been very rewarding.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
While I am the Managing Director of Djembe Communications and I must act as the consultancy’s leader, I also cherish the opportunity to be a manager to my team of Djembe Drummers. I get the most satisfaction on personally investing time in the development of my team members and watching them grow individually and collectively as one team. When you work with bright, talented people who share your vision of making a difference in Africa, it is extremely satisfying when you can make a difference with a collection of team members who you have nurtured personally.
What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
The biggest sacrifice is your personal time as the communications field is a 24/7 commitment to your team and your clients. This is especially true as the world has become so digitally connected, which has created enormous opportunities and a new set of challenges. So, my personal time has been the biggest sacrifice. However, I would not change any aspect of my 27 years’ career journey as I continue to meet fascinated people and learn new insights along the way!
What are some of the biggest lessons that have impacted the way you work in Africa? What was it like before and after? What pitfalls have you encountered?
Each global region is different with their own unique set of opportunities and challenges. Africa is no different. I have learned to embrace these differences and adapt by applying the simple values my parents instilled in me. I have been working in Africa for over two decades. Each day in Africa I gain a new perspective, a new insight that also informs my decision making process. I have learned to embrace Africa’s potential and love playing a role in helping the region realize this potential.
How has Djembe Communications adapted to the growth of Social Media, which has been growing rapidly on the continent?
Saying that one is a social media expert is an overstatement nowadays. This industry is not only growing but changing rapidly and there is no secret that companies are finding it challenging to keep up with all the creative features flooding the market. To achieve great results a lot of effort is required. Clients are demanding, they all want a strong social media presence but not all of them understand that what might work for a personal profile will not work for a company, or what works for one channel, does not necessarily mean that it is a guarantee for another channel.Furthermore, a more targeted engagement is required on the various social media channels.
This is where the significant capabilities of Djembe can be applied to build a digital communications plan that offers compelling content, rich design and targeted engagement, all three critical elements for building a successful and impactful plan.This is unlike most communications agencies, who solely offer content and may offer limited design support. The targeted engagement component is not traditionally a capability that communications agencies offer, meaning this important component is outsourced. Djembe is unique in that we have all three of these essential components in-house within our consultancy network. Since Djembe has a unique offering with all three critical components we build digital communications plans that are much more impactful and ultimately successful when compared to the standard offering of other communications agencies.
Also, Djembe’s strong knowledge of local markets and global trends is another critical step to capitalizingon the digital revolution. For example, Twitter is huge in Nigeria but in Angola Facebook is one of the main channels to address stakeholders. Another key step is to keep learning, to follow success stories, get inspired and tailor custom made strategies, which are always integrated with the offline programs a client may have. Lastly, I would say that spotting opportunity is also key. There is so much potential across the continent to expand in various sectors through digital capabilities. For example, our recently launched Djembe Insights mobile application is one of the first of its kind in Africa, connecting entrepreneurs, people interested in doing business in Africa and offering insights about key market developments.
Where do you see Djembe Communications in five years?
Over the next five years, Djembe will remain passionately committed to Africa and the field of communications. We believeby nurturing and growing our team of Djembe Drummers, we are building a powerful consultancy offering, something that gives us a unique competitive advantage in our drive to play a significant role in helping Africa reach its full potential. Additionally, through Djembe’sCenter of Excellence approach for building communications strategies, Djembe Communications is fast becoming the communications partner of choice for Africa.
Henry Mieni
Africa Updates