Cracking product–market fit in Africa: Four lessons from the field

Product–market fit (PMF) is every founder’s obsession. But if there’s one thing my journey as an African founder has taught me, it’s this: PMF is not a single moment of discovery, but a messy, iterative process. 

Over the last decade, I’ve built multiple ventures, raised over $40M in funding, expanded across African markets, and— just as importantly — shut down products that didn’t work. Each chapter offered lessons in finding and sustaining PMF under uniquely African market conditions.

Here are the stories and lessons that shaped my understanding of finding PMF: 

1. Do not be afraid to pivot 

Our first product at MarketForce was enterprise SaaS for large FMCG brands. After 2 years of polite interest and painfully slow sales cycles, we realized we weren’t solving the right problem, because when you are, the numbers speak for themselves. 

So we pivoted. Instead of selling to corporates, we built a digital marketplace for neighborhood merchants; the small shops that power Africa’s retail economy. Within six months, 1,000 merchants had signed up. That traction told us we were finally on the right path. 

Lesson: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) make up over 80% of jobs and more than half of GDP in many African economies, yet they’re chronically overlooked by traditional corporates and banks. Listening to them (not just the big players) can unlock the most scalable opportunities. 

2. Data > Storytelling

The pivot took us to Y Combinator in 2020, then into fundraising rounds that brought in millions of dollars. Investors weren’t sold on our pitch alone - they cared about numbers: hundreds of thousands of merchants onboarded, nearly 1 million orders fulfilled, $160M in transaction value. 

Lesson: PMF here isn’t about a “moment.” It’s about building undeniable proof through usage, retention, and unit economics, even more so when telling your story globally.

3. Scale without losing discipline

Flush with capital, we expanded aggressively: five countries, large teams, massive inventory distribution. Growth looked great from the outside. Inside, FMCG margins and operational complexity were crushing. 

Eventually, we made the hard call to shut down the product - RejaReja. It was unsustainable.

Lesson: Growth without disciplined unit economics is a mirage. PMF is fragile if the model doesn’t scale sustainably. 

4. Build with the customer, not for them

After shutting down RejaReja, we regrouped. We launched Chpter, focusing on a narrower merchant segment with better margins; and building very deliberately. Every feature was tested through conversations with real customers before a line of code was written. 

Lesson: In Africa, your customers aren’t just “end users”, they’re co-creators. When you sit with them, test assumptions together, and design solutions that fit into their daily realities, adoption comes naturally. Too often products are built for users from a distance, but the real breakthroughs happen when they’re part of the build.

What PMF in Africa Teaches the World

Building in African markets forces discipline. Infrastructure gaps, diverse customer behaviors, and thin margins leave no room for vanity metrics. To survive, you must:

• Adapt locally: Solutions must work with local payments, languages, and trust dynamics.
• Prove profitability early: Capital is scarce; unit economics must hold.
• Partner smartly: Ecosystems matter more than going it alone.
• Stay customer-obsessed: Success comes from listening closely and iterating quickly.

Closing Thought

Product–market fit is not a finish line. It’s a series of checkpoints where the product, market, and business model click into place, sometimes temporarily, often imperfectly. 

My journey taught me that in Africa, and perhaps everywhere, PMF is less about finding markets for your products, and more about letting markets shape your products.

Tesh is a speaker at Africa's largest tech product conference, Inspire Africa Conference, taking place 14th - 17th October in Kigali, Rwanda. Visit inspireafricaconference.com for more info including tickets.