After Product-Market Fit (PMF): When to Go Deep and When to Go Wide in Africa. learning from Selcom, Nala & Flutterwave.
After PMF, You go wide or you go deep, but how do you know when to do either, Learnings from Flutterwave, Nala and Selcom as fintechs built strong from Africa.
Introduction.
If you ask Hayden, a partner at RaliCap, about what to do after hitting Product-Market Fit (PMF) in Africa, his response will likely be: “Once you hit PMF, you go wide because individual African markets are not large enough for VC-scale exits.”
Jake, another emerging markets VC would say “Most countries in Africa are too small of a market to be interesting on their own. For comparison to US-based landmarks: Even Nigeria — Africa’s largest economy — has a GDP smaller than Boston, MA”
For startups, achieving Product-Market Fit (PMF) is a significant milestone, signaling that a product has found the right market and customers are ready to pay for it. But once PMF is reached, a critical question arises: Should you go deep or go wide? Should you focus on growing within the core market, or should you scale rapidly by entering new ones? This decision isn't just a challenge for fintechs but for startups across all industries.
Bosini from Quona highlights the challenges of fintechs going far too wide, using examples like TymeBank, which went from South Africa to the Philippines, and Verto, which continues going wide. In contrast, companies like Yoco and Orda have chosen to go deep with existing customers. While going wide can bring growth, it often comes with regulatory and operational challenges, whereas going deep allows for more sustainable, focused growth within specific regions
In this article, we'll explore the factors that guide this decision, examine when to go deep or wide, and analyze three notable examples in Africa—Flutterwave, Nala and Selcom—each of which illustrates different approaches to growth.
The Startup Way: Experiment First, then Scale What Works
Startups are built on experimentation. The entire concept is centered around testing ideas, iterating, and refining your approach based on market feedback. Whether you're in fintech, e-commerce, or another sector, experimentation helps you learn quickly, identify what works, and scale it effectively.
For example, Nala started in Tanzania with an app for personal finance before realizing that remittances had stronger demand and were more scalable. This ability to pivot based on learnings is fundamental for any startup. The same principle applies when deciding whether to go deep or wide—both strategies should be guided by data, feedback, and a deep understanding of your customers.
What is Going Deep?
Going deep means intensifying your focus on the market where you’ve already achieved success. You aim to become the dominant player by offering more value, solidifying your infrastructure, or expanding the product offering to serve your core customers better. Essentially, it’s about maximizing depth in one market before considering geographic expansion.
For example Selcom started in Tanzania leading with mobile banking for 25+ banks and decided to go deeper by adding agency banking, merchants services, cards related services, insurance services, then remittances hub services and e-commerce venture
What is Going Wide?
Going wide involves expanding horizontally—either by entering new markets, adding new product lines, or scaling your business to different customer segments. This approach is about leveraging the initial success of PMF and growing your business across various fronts. Going wide works when your product is highly scalable and can be adapted to new geographies or customer bases without significant friction.
For example Flutterwave was able to hit PMF with UBER and they decided to go wide right away and that became the anchor customer for their expansion across many African countries they went from Nigeria to 20 countries in fe years
The Decision: Go Deep or Go Wide First?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but knowing when to experiment with going deep or wide can significantly impact your growth trajectory. The key is to experiment and figure out what works for your particular startup.
Signals to Go Deep:
Significant Untapped Potential in Your Core Market: If you've captured PMF but there’s more to be done in your existing market, focusing on deepening your offering is the right approach. For instance, if your users demand additional features or services, building them within your core market can lead to more value capture.
Strong Local Competition: If you’re facing intense competition in your primary market, going deeper and creating a moat can be a smart way to fend off competitors. This could include doubling down on customer loyalty, improving the user experience, or building exclusive partnerships.
Complex Regulatory or Infrastructure Challenges: In regions like Africa, where each country presents unique regulatory environments, going deep in one market can allow you to build a solid foundation before expanding elsewhere.
Limited Resources: If your resources are constrained, focusing on going deep can maximize your efficiency. Rather than stretching too thin, you can build a defensible position in one market.
Signals to Go Wide:
Proven Scalability: If your product is inherently scalable, as is often the case with digital or platform-based startups, expanding horizontally can be a good move. Fintech products like remittances can easily be expanded to other markets once the core technology is built.
Demand in New Markets: If you’re receiving significant inbound interest from other geographies or customer segments, that may be a signal to start expanding. However, you need to ensure the market dynamics are similar and can accommodate your product.
Saturated Core Market: If you’ve already captured a significant share of your current market, going wide can provide the next avenue for growth.
Access to Capital: If you've raised sufficient funds, expanding to new markets can accelerate your growth. Going wide often requires significant investment in infrastructure, teams, and local partnerships, so strong financial backing is essential.
Case Study 1: Nala—Go Wide First, Then Go Deep
Nala provides a fascinating example of a startup going wide first and then going deep. Nala began as a personal finance app, initially experimenting with what product would gain traction in the market. Eventually, they found that remittances had strong demand. This pivot allowed Nala to scale quickly by going wide, expanding to multiple remittance corridors, including the UK, US, and other African markets.
Going Wide: Expanding Remittance Corridors
Once Nala achieved PMF with remittances, they chose to go wide by scaling across major global corridors. Remittances are a highly scalable product, and Nala was able to quickly gain traction in multiple markets, allowing the company to raise $40 million in funding. Their strategy focused on leveraging the digital nature of remittances to expand without the need for heavy physical infrastructure in every market.
Going Deep: Launching Rafiki
After going wide and building a strong customer base, Nala made the decision to go deep with Rafiki, a payments platform designed for B2B cross-border transactions. This marked a shift in focus, from consumer remittances to deeper integration within the African payments infrastructure. By going deep into payments, Nala aimed to control more of the value chain and deliver robust payment solutions to businesses across the continent.
Case Study 2: Selcom—Go Deep First, Then Try Wide
On the flip side, Selcom took a very different approach by going deep first. Selcom focused on building a strong payments infrastructure in Tanzania before attempting to scale. They offered an integrated payments platform for local payments, agency banking, and even card-issuing, becoming a dominant player in Tanzania.
Going Deep: Building an Ecosystem in Tanzania
Selcom’s strategy was all about going deep. They didn’t just offer one solution but expanded vertically within Tanzania, adding products and services such as merchant payments, agency networks, and e-commerce solutions. This approach allowed Selcom to capture significant market share and create a comprehensive ecosystem, deeply entrenched in the financial life of Tanzanian consumers and businesses.
Going Deeper with Selcom Bank
Recently, Selcom went even deeper by acquiring a bank, now rebranded as Selcom Bank. This acquisition gives Selcom a tighter grip on the financial ecosystem in Tanzania, allowing them to expand into banking services such as credit, loans, and deposits, alongside their payments infrastructure.
Trying to Go Wide: Challenges Beyond Tanzania
After solidifying their deep presence in Tanzania, Selcom began exploring markets beyond their home country. However, unlike Nala’s remittance service, Selcom's payments infrastructure requires more adaptation to local conditions, and their expansion beyond Tanzania has been slower. The regulatory and partnership challenges of moving into new markets have proven difficult, though their deep presence in Tanzania remains their stronghold. They even tried to launch a neobank in Tanzania then expand it to other markets like Kenya and Zambia but it was harder than buying a bank to even embed themselves deeper in their home market.
Case Study 3: Flutterwave – Going Wide After Hitting PMF with Uber
Flutterwave provides an excellent example of a startup that chose to go wide after hitting Product-Market Fit (PMF). Founded in Nigeria, Flutterwave quickly established itself as a payments infrastructure provider, but it was their partnership with Uber that became the turning point in their journey. Unlike Selcom, which focused on going deep in one market, and Nala, which combined both strategies, Flutterwave opted for rapid geographic expansion after proving its model with a high-profile client.
Hitting PMF with Uber: The Anchor Client
Flutterwave’s breakthrough moment came when they became the payment processor for Uber in Nigeria. At the time, Uber needed a solution to handle local payments in Nigeria, a country where the financial infrastructure is fragmented and varies significantly from more developed markets. Flutterwave offered a platform that could bridge Uber’s global systems with Nigeria’s local payment networks—ensuring smooth, reliable transactions between Uber riders and drivers.
This partnership served as Flutterwave’s PMF validation. Handling Uber’s large transaction volumes and cross-border payment complexities proved that Flutterwave’s infrastructure could meet the demands of a global, high-profile client while adapting to the intricacies of African markets.
Going Wide: Leveraging Success to Scale Across Africa
With Uber as a successful use case, Flutterwave rapidly expanded beyond Nigeria. They leveraged their Uber partnership as a credible proof of concept, which made it easier for them to build trust with new clients, banks, and regulators in other countries. Over the next two years, Flutterwave expanded into 10 countries, including Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.
Instead of refining their product further in Nigeria (going deep), they recognized the demand for their solution across Africa’s growing digital payments landscape and seized the opportunity to scale. Their platform, designed with scalability in mind, was easily adaptable to the varying financial infrastructures across African countries, making wide expansion feasible.
Why Going Wide Was the Right Move for Flutterwave
Scalable Infrastructure: Flutterwave’s payment platform was built to handle different countries' varying banking systems and financial infrastructures without requiring significant customization. This made it easier for them to expand into new markets quickly.
Uber as an Anchor Client: Working with Uber, a well-known global brand, gave Flutterwave the credibility it needed to gain the trust of new customers and partners in multiple countries. Uber’s endorsement helped open doors across Africa.
Cross-Border Payments Demand: As e-commerce and cross-border trade in Africa were growing, the need for reliable payments infrastructure was increasing. Flutterwave was able to fill this gap across multiple countries, offering a seamless solution for businesses operating in different regions.
Lessons from Flutterwave’s Strategy
Flutterwave’s decision to go wide was driven by a combination of a scalable platform, a strong anchor client, and growing demand for cross-border payments solutions across Africa. For Flutterwave, the timing was crucial—rather than spending time going deeper in Nigeria, they chose to capture as much market share as possible across the continent.
While this strategy worked for Flutterwave, it also came with challenges. Expanding across borders requires navigating multiple regulatory environments, securing local partnerships, and adapting to new customer needs. However, by leveraging their Uber success, Flutterwave was able to make this leap efficiently, establishing itself as one of Africa’s leading payment companies
Conclusion:
The journeys of Nala, Selcom, and Flutterwave underscore the diverse strategies startups can adopt in the African landscape after achieving Product-Market Fit (PMF). Each company exemplifies a different approach to growth—whether it be going wide, going deep, or a combination of both—highlighting that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
Nala’s initial decision to expand wide into the remittance market allowed them to capitalize on cross-border opportunities. Their later pivot to a deeper engagement through Rafiki illustrates the advantage of building a robust infrastructure and control within the payments ecosystem. This dual strategy has positioned them to better navigate the complexities of the African financial landscape while ensuring sustained growth.
Selcom began by going deep in Tanzania, establishing itself as a dominant player in local payments and e-commerce. Their stronghold in the Tanzanian market provided valuable lessons in operational excellence. However, the challenges they faced when attempting to expand beyond their borders reveal the limitations of a deep-only approach, especially in markets lacking similar digital scalability.
Flutterwave showcases the power of rapid expansion. Their successful partnership with Uber allowed them to achieve PMF quickly and capitalize on the momentum to penetrate multiple African markets. This strategy highlights how leveraging existing demand in larger platforms can facilitate swift geographic growth.
These case studies collectively suggest that the decision to go deep or wide should be guided by the nature of the product, market conditions, and organizational capabilities. The African startup ecosystem thrives on experimentation, learning, and adaptation. Startups must remain agile, willing to pivot between strategies as they grow and respond to the unique dynamics of the regions they serve.
In conclusion, whether you choose to go deep first, expand wide, or navigate a hybrid approach, the key lies in understanding your market, leveraging your strengths, and continuously iterating on your strategies. The African startup landscape offers immense potential, and with the right approach, you can position your venture for sustainable success.
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