Affiong Williams, CEO of Nigeria-based dried fruit snacks producer ReelFruit
This text is an excerpt from our newest ebook ‘How we made it in Africa II: Actual tales of entrepreneurs turning alternative into revenue‘
Affiong Williams, founder and CEO of Nigerian dried fruit and snacks firm ReelFruit, has lengthy considered worldwide markets as a significant alternative for her enterprise. With the opening of its new manufacturing unit and better manufacturing capability, that ambition has begun to materialise. The corporate has signed agreements with two distributors in Europe and a big retail group within the US, together with different export offers. Along with its branded packaged snacks, it now additionally provides unbranded bulk produce for each retail and industrial consumers overseas.
By exporting, Nigerian corporations can shield themselves in opposition to the weak point of the naira, the nation’s native forex. Between mid-2023 and mid-2025, the naira misplaced about half its worth in opposition to the US greenback. “Many Nigerian corporations have enter prices in {dollars}, both straight or not directly. So, the inflationary influence of the devaluing naira is hedged while you export and earn {dollars},” she says.
With annual inflation climbing to 25% in 2023 and 33% in 2024, Nigerians’ spending energy has been sharply eroded. In opposition to this backdrop, Williams stresses the significance of concentrating on markets with increased disposable incomes. Even a modest foothold in a dollar-paying market, she says, may help companies climate Nigeria’s troublesome financial local weather.
Nonetheless, she cautions in opposition to pursuing an export technique that depends on constructing a shopper model and spending closely on advertising in developed markets. Meals corporations within the US and Europe, she notes, have far bigger budgets and the competitors is intense. A shopper model in America would possibly spend 25% of its prices on advertising, whereas ReelFruit spends nearer to five% in Nigeria.
She stresses this isn’t about pondering small, however about recognising the realities of how the business works overseas. Many American manufacturers are backed by enterprise capital, which permits them to spend aggressively on advertising. Most of those manufacturers ultimately fail, however buyers count on that. Their technique is to again many corporations, figuring out only some will succeed and ship the returns wanted to offset the losses from the unsuccessful ventures. For an African model, competing in such an surroundings is extraordinarily troublesome. Following that path may imply operating at a loss for 2 years or extra, with no assure of success.
In line with Williams, shopper developments within the US additionally change at a breakneck velocity, making it exhausting for a overseas firm to maintain up. By the point a model perfects its advertising, packaging, and influencer technique, the market might have already got shifted. “It’s only a machine of a market that’s backed by a lot extra money than we are able to increase,” she says.
ReelFruit’s present deal within the US is with a significant retailer that operates greater than 2,500 shops. Crucially, the retailer buys the merchandise outright and sells them by way of its personal channels, which suggests ReelFruit is just not required to spend money on model constructing or advertising within the US.
Even e-commerce in developed markets – usually assumed to have a low barrier to entry – comes with critical challenges. ReelFruit as soon as offered into the US by way of its personal on-line retailer and on Amazon however later pulled again to rethink its strategy. On Amazon, meals must promote shortly to keep away from expiring or accumulating warehousing charges. However conserving inventory shifting at that velocity normally requires aggressive spending on advertising.
African shops overseas may, nevertheless, be a chance for manufacturers from the continent. For example, an estimated seventeen million Nigerians stay outdoors the nation, lots of them within the US. This diaspora represents a ready-made buyer base. “There isn’t any higher market, or no lower-hanging fruit, than your folks in a foreign country,” Williams explains.
Due to the excessive prices of constructing a model overseas, Williams sees better potential in promoting internationally in different methods. This contains supplying unbranded bulk items or producing private-label merchandise – the place ReelFruit manufactures the fruit snacks however packages them below one other firm’s label.
This strategy aligns along with her grandmother’s recommendation: by no means struggle a battle on a number of fronts. She argues that whereas Western corporations can focus totally on model constructing, African companies don’t have that luxurious. In Nigeria, producers should cope with an unstable macroeconomic surroundings, unreliable uncooked materials provide, shortages of expert labour, and a fancy regulatory panorama – challenges their counterparts in developed markets not often face.
A wholesale technique permits corporations to focus on their core power: manufacturing. “I’d say it’s significantly better to promote bulk, get regular revenues, cut back your battles,” she notes.
ReelFruit has already felt the influence of upper US tariffs launched below President Trump. Williams additionally assumes that the African Development and Alternative Act – which granted duty-free entry to the US marketplace for eligible sub-Saharan African nations, and expired on the finish of September 2025 – won’t be renewed. She acknowledges that these measures will have an effect on her enterprise, however notes that the extra duties are finally handed on to US customers. In her view, the American market is resilient sufficient to soak up these value will increase. And if US tariffs on main exporters corresponding to some Asian nations and Mexico find yourself exceeding these on Nigeria, she provides, it may even work to her benefit.
To study extra about how Williams constructed her dried fruit enterprise, buy your newest ebook How we made it in Africa II.
