Investors and businesses are aware of Africa’s tremendous potential; it is the world’s second fastest-growing market, only after Asia. It might surprise you, though, to learn that Africa’s growth is driven more by a booming consumer market than by outside investment. Presenting their findings from a study conducted on 15,000 customers across the continent at the African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Accra in October 2012, Reinaldo Fiorini of McKinsey & Company and his colleague Safroadu Yeboah-Amankwah affirmed this notion.

“When we were investigating the growth in Africa, one of the myths that was always there was that the growth in Africa is only coming from resources,” said Fiorini. “But actually, when you go and look into the numbers, a big part of this...