Despite economic and political instability, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)’s economies will continue to expand, offering both opportunities and risks. In the current business landscape, effective distributor management is a critical element to capitalizing on opportunities and mitigating risks in MENA.
Local partners can provide a buffer to operational risks in order to assuage the corporate center, which might be concerned about some of the more volatile markets. Local partners can also provide critical capabilities like market insight and value-added services, which help companies to capture growth opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach.
More than two-thirds of FSG clients that were polled said they rely on distributors to reach their customers in MENA. In addition, nearly 70% plan to expand their local presence during the next three years and distributors will play a critical role in this process.
Companies that are assessing new partners should vet the prospective distributors based on considerations that are unique to the MENA region:
