Retailing Africa, a new business-to-business news site focusing on the retailing and consumer goods industry in South Africa and in Africa, launched today [3 February 2020].
RetailingAfrica.com promises “journalism and research-driven content, providing strongly independent, exclusive news, opinion and analysis on one of the fastest-growing and most-sophisticated business sectors in Africa”, said founders Louise Burgers and Herman Manson.
The portal’s focus would be on retailers, brands and consumer insights from across Africa.
“There has never been a better time to launch a journalism-driven retail-focused new media brand, with the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) promising to be a gamechanger on the African continent over the coming decade, bringing down trade barriers and creating the biggest trading block globally,” said founding editor and publisher, Burgers (previously Marsland).
“Retail is one of the fastest-transforming industries in the world and Africa has its own unique challenges and opportunities for brands and is, in fact, leading global innovation in many areas through necessity, such as mcommerce, financing and logistics, in particular,” she said.
Retailing Africa is a partner to advertising and marketing news portal, MarkLives, founded by Manson.
“Our experience with MarkLives has proven that media projects practicing old-school journalism can achieve commercial success, contribute to the health of the broader industry it covers and do so in a commercially sustainable way, without compromising its promise of editorial independence to readers, or resorting to click-bait,” said Manson.
“Trade journalism has been left for dead by much of the media industry. We all thought the beat was dead. Now we know it’s not. Expect Retailing Africa to shake up the sector — it is here to disrupt the business-to-business media landscape. Initial feedback from sponsors and industry players have been overwhelmingly positive and we enter the market at a crucial and transformative time for retailing in Africa.”
