South African Invasion

Business Daily África:

Seven years ago, the ambitions of South African firms to penetrate corporate Kenya seemed to have been crudely dashed after the exit of SABMiller from the local alcoholic beverage market.

After an expensive and lopsided marketing war that bore a nasty tinge of corporate nationalism, suffered by both the South African brewing giant and EABL in the East African markets, SABMiller and its Kenyan counterpart hopped into bed in a multibillion shilling deal that allowed both parties to exchange a 20 per cent stake in their respective businesses in Kenya and Tanzania.

The face-saving deal — which was codenamed Thunderbird by McKinsey, the international strategy consulting firm — and SABMillers’s botched market entry into the Kenyan market has served as a template of how not to expand across the continent for corporate South Africa.

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