The internationalization specificities of African firms: A case study of Vidzar from Madagascar

Résumé 0

This study aims to identify the internationalization process specificities of African firms through a case study of the international development of Malagasy group Vidzar, one of Africa’s leading rum producers. Our methodological case study approach takes into account African specificities and is based on internal company data, secondary data (47 press articles), and information collected from company executives and representatives in Europe via four semi-structured interviews. The results obtained show specificities in terms of the speed and sequence of the internationalization process and also with respect to the management of commercial representation and intermediaries. These specificities are marked by a “hesitant” management approach to internationalization, often resulting in cycles of trial and error, ad hoc opportunities, and a strong reliance on business networks. In terms of the pace of the internationalization process, Vidzar started late, before entering a phase of rapid international deployment aimed directly at large export markets without going through a regionalized presence in Africa. Nonetheless, despite these specificities, we also find certain similarities with generic internationalization processes. Our study strongly argues for additional contextualized analyses of the international development of African firms.