Africa's FMCG sector is one of the most competitive talent markets on the continent. Leaders with route-to-market expertise in informal trade, multi-category P&L experience and the ability to build motivated sales forces are constantly contested. Finding them requires proactive, relationship-based sourcing — not advertising.
Roles We Place:
Case Study:
The most valuable profiles - leaders with informal trade expertise, multi-category P&L experience and the ability to manage large dispersed sales teams across fragmented distribution infrastructure - are scarce and intensely competed for across multiple industries. The best candidates are well-employed and not actively on the market. Finding them requires long-built networks and proactive direct outreach, not a search on a database. We also assess for Africa-specific operating capability, not just a strong track record in more predictable markets.
Yes. We regularly run parallel FMCG searches across East Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa for businesses entering multiple markets simultaneously. Our networks cover the major talent hubs including Nairobi, Lagos, Accra, Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam, and we have the regional presence to run concurrent searches without compromising quality on any individual mandate.
We focus on candidates who have genuinely operated in African conditions: informal trade, dispersed field teams, data-scarce decision-making environments and macroeconomic volatility. We are rigorous about distinguishing candidates who have operated in these conditions from those who have observed them from a regional hub or headquarters. A strong track record in a multinational's African hub role does not automatically translate to the same capability as someone who has been running the business on the ground.
Our focus is on senior appointments at Country Manager, Commercial Director, Supply Chain Director and above. For mid-management FMCG roles, we refer trusted specialist partners. We concentrate our effort at the level where our sector knowledge and regional networks deliver the most value, which is at the senior leadership tier where the stakes of getting it wrong are highest.
