Lesson from WeChat's Market Focus
Some companies focus on markets where they can extract most values. The success of WeChat and how it has contributed to the market cap of Tencent would make you think the app is global. Not really - the app is #1 in only three countries on earth.
But it has done more in those countries than companies like Facebook which have many #1 across many global markets. Of course, China where WeChat is dominant is not just a country - when you get China, you can count it as having 53 countries in Africa and more. But that does not remove the fact that Facebook has not truly innovated on WhatsApp when it comes to payments and other services.
But those apps don’t offer payments in all those countries. Although WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have more users, WeChat’s depth of services — including bookings, bike rentals, payments, MiniApps and news — make it the world’s most powerful.
Facebook Inc. has squandered its $19 billion WhatsApp purchase of four years ago by doing nothing to expand its feature set. (Facebook does at least see the potential, having decided to dip its toe in the water by rolling out WhatsApp Pay in India, a project that recently hit some hurdles over privacy concerns.) Meanwhile, its own Facebook Messenger app has barely innovated.
Nigeria is the China of Africa - one can build a real business in Nigeria. It does make sense to win Nigeria first before entering into small African countries just to say you are in many countries. Lagos State is the 5th or 6th largest African economy; River State is not far behind. We have a huge home market to find success before those expensive expansions outside home.
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