‘Anyone Can Build a Product, But Will People Use It?’ Experts Warn African Startups

Rabat – African startups are finding it easier than ever to build new products thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). But experts warn that the real challenge today is not creating solutions, but getting people to actually use them.

This was the focus of a recent webinar hosted by Morocco World News and moderated by UK-based product marketing manager Olajumoke Adigun. She was joined by two product experts: Kelvin, a product manager with experience in fintech and environmental solutions, and Mariam Eskander, an AI product manager with a developer background.

During the webinar, Eskander discussed how quickly products can be built with AI. “Product development is faster than ever today … We have coding tools, AI assistants, and coding assistant tools which make it easy to launch an MVP not in days but in hours,” she said.

But this speed, she warned, also means the market is flooded with products that often miss local needs. Kelvin agreed, stressing that startups cannot simply copy models from Europe or the United States. Products that work in the UK or the US will not always work in Africa, he argued.

People are different, and without localization, “that product is bound to fail,” Kelvin said.

Both speakers emphasised the role of AI in better understanding customer behavior. Kelvin shared an example from India, where AI revealed how women’s business success was linked to cooking habits, whether they prepared rice, which freed up time for conversations, or roti, which required constant attention. “This is what I mean by AI helping us understand customer behavior,” he said.

The discussion highlighted three main adoption challenges African startups face, including product-market fit, customer trust, and localization. Eskander spoke of the need for startups to focus on the entire adoption funnel, from awareness to trial and activation. “Do we speak in the customer’s language or not? We show the users what they expect from our product or not. Is it related to pain, or just we show that we have the best product in the world?” she asked.

AI tools, the speakers noted, can help tackle these challenges. Tools like Tidio for customer service, ChatGPT for market research, and Phantom for conversation analysis can give startups insights that once cost millions in consulting fees.

Trust, however, remains key. “It’s about the messaging you deliver to customers,” Mariam explained. “Is it about ‘give me your money and I’ll check what you need later’? Or is it ‘I care about your problem’?”

Adigun added that partnerships and collaboration are critical for resource-limited startups. She encouraged founders to work with complementary businesses, pool resources, and even build in public by sharing their journeys online. “I don’t really believe in the old ‘building in public,’ but I do believe that if you put yourself out there and build some audience for yourself … that also really works,” she said.

The experts agreed that the future of African startups will depend not only on AI tools, but also on deep local knowledge and the ability to build trust.