After gaining initial experience at Yves Rocher, Izar Hyacinthe joined the CANAL+ group, where she participated in the commercial development of the network in TOGO. She then returned to Yves Rocher for five years, where she held various marketing and sales positions for sub-Saharan Africa. In 2021, she joined L'Oréal as Business Development Director Europe – African Beauty Brands. At the end of 2023, she created her own company, Concretiz, whose mission is to support its clients in the realization of their business ventures in Africa.
Her partner in adventure at AFRETAIL is Cécile Walter, International Director of Eurelia.
Specializing in advising retailers on their approach to international markets, as well as major investors/developers on their strategy for expanding outside France, Cécile WALTER heads up the team of research analysts at Eurelia (the international division of Procos), which specializes in commercial issues.
In June, you will be launching the first forum dedicated to retail in AFRICA. How did you come up with this idea?
During my interactions with clients and prospects, I received many requests from international brands wondering how to connect with local African distributors… and conversely, many partners wishing to distribute international brands in Africa.
During one of my contacts with EURELIA, the international division of PROCOS, the Federation for the Promotion of Specialized Trade, we decided to join forces to co-organize the first AFRETAIL forum.
What is the purpose of this forum?
We want to respond to this identified demand and facilitate meetings between international brands and local African distributors/partners. Today, these two worlds do not meet. There are many international brands considering expanding into Africa and local African partners who would like to partner with international brands but do not know how to go about it.
Our goal is to use this networking opportunity to promote expansion opportunities in Africa while enabling participants to better understand the challenges facing the continent.
How will the forum be organized?
AFRETAIL will be held over one day at the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry on June 28 and will feature conferences and expert round tables in addition to networking opportunities.
The first conference will be very general in nature, focusing on the African continent and presenting the main challenges facing this emerging market.
This will be followed by a conference on consumer trends in sub-Saharan Africa and a third conference on the commercial landscape in Abidjan and possibly Cotonou.
Then there will be a roundtable discussion on expansion strategies and the challenges and opportunities for franchises in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by a discussion on ethical sourcing and its social impact: how to align CSR with your development strategy in Africa.
The afternoon will take the form of a trade show, dedicated to B2B meetings between brands with stands and potential local partners.
In addition, we will be honoring a country, but we will only be able to make it official in a few days.
I bet it will be Benin, which is extremely dynamic at the moment…
A little patience, it will be announced soon…
Are you targeting all of Africa or just the French-speaking part?
Of course, the most important countries in French-speaking Africa (Senegal, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Congo Kinshasa, Mauritania, Benin, etc.) will be represented, but so will English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking Africa and, of course, the Maghreb.
In terms of brands, around fifteen have already been confirmed, including Kiabi, Yves Rocher, Monoprix, Franprix, KIKO Milano, and more, even though we have only just begun our marketing campaign.
How is AFRETAIL funded?
We sell stands to retailers and badges to African operators, and we also have a number of partners who support the project. CANAL+ IMPACT, for example, whose role is to set up partnerships to carry out CSR projects with a local impact, is one of the event's sponsors. As part of this partnership, part of our profits will be donated to an organization that we support.
Will there be a section dedicated to e-commerce?
Operationally, e-commerce is complicated in Africa for many reasons.
(address accuracy, logistical issues, banking penetration, delivery, etc.). For many brands, this is not a viable solution. International brands are now more interested in social commerce than e-commerce: giving stock to representatives who are successful on social media and who are able to deliver to their community and pass on the money collected.