Significant advancements in digital connectivity over the past decade in sub-Saharan Africa have run parallel to evolving living standards, rising wages and heightened consumption levels. At the same time, consumers have generally become increasingly savvy in the ways they bring brands and messages into their lives, making the marketing efforts even more challenging. The challenge is even greater in sub-Saharan Africa due to country-to-country variations in media, mobile and messaging. Marketers keen to reach African consumers need to look beyond the obvious and explore innovative and persuasive ways to resonate with niche and mass audiences.

To help businesses navigate sub-Sahara Africa opportunities, Nielsen surveyed more than 8,100 urban and peri-urban consumers across 15 countries. Through this survey, Nielsen identified seven consumer segments, using variables such as lifestyle, attitudes, demographics, and purchasing behavior, to gain insight into the minds of the diverse consumers of Africa. Further, by observing broad patterns in media engagement Nielsen has been able to delineate key patterns to classify countries into three groups of media consumers: savvy, selective and simple.