According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa's GDP grew by 3.4% in 2019, but although the AfDB forecasts a rebound to 3% in 2021, the continent's growth in 2020 is expected to fall to 3.4% as a result of the pandemic.

Despite this predicted drop in growth in 2020, Africa, with its social and societal, economic and technological changes, still offers growth opportunities to many companies around the world. These opportunities can be explained by various factors, including the youth of the population, exponential urbanisation, the influx of capital and technological development (Daziano, 2014)[1]. Africa, for example, is the world's second-largest mobile telephony market. In 2018, it is positioned as a continent with one of the highest mobile usage rates (almost 80%), with a market growth rate estimated at +4% compared with 2017[2].

National and international investors are increasingly attracted by the potential of the African continent. The massive establishment of retail and service chains (Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, Leroy Merlin, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc.) in many African countries is proof of this. Despite this professional interest in the African continent, it is clear that there is a limited amount of research in management sciences and marketing in particular on African markets and consumers (Lages, Pfajfar, and Shoham, 2015)[3]. This call for papers therefore has three main objectives:

- To stimulate and promote marketing research leading to a better understanding of consumer and managerial behaviour in Africa.

- To contribute to the theoretical and managerial advancement of research on African countries.

- Encourage meetings and exchanges between researchers and managers interested in the problems of African countries in the broadest sense (Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Africa and North Africa), whether they are located in African countries or in other countries (emerging or developed). A number of initiatives have already been launched. These include the development of the Groupe d'Intérêts Thématiques de l'Association Française de Marketing (GIT-AFM) around "distribution in emerging countries" and the creation of the association "Recherche Marketing sur les Pays d'Afrique" (RMPA).

Potential themes :

Researchers are invited to submit methodological and conceptual empirical research that focuses on marketing topics related to African countries with strong scientific and managerial potential. Papers may be based on qualitative or quantitative methods, case studies and conceptual analyses.

Without this list being exhaustive, researchers may propose critical and original papers on the following themes:

•     African consumer behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic.
•     Business responses in Africa following the Covid-19 pandemic.
•     Products and services: product adaptation, product innovation, local product transformation, management of contact personnel, quality of service, etc.
•     Distribution networks in Africa: traditional trade, informal networks, alternative markets, impact of modern distribution (e.g. shopping centres, supermarkets, etc.), Chinese presence in Africa, etc.
•     Communication strategies: adapting advertising to the local context, promotional practices, the role of social networks, etc.
•     Pricing: price negotiation, price perception, etc.
• Co-creation and participation practices, business models.
•     Brand strategies: local/global brand, country of origin, counterfeiting, etc.
•     Associative and cooperative strategies: NGOs, associations, cooperatives, EIGs, etc.
•     Sectoral management and marketing: luxury goods, health, industry, agri-business, tourism/hospitality, banking, etc.
•     Cross-cultural studies (African countries / other emerging or developed countries).
•     Cross-disciplinary analyses applied to Africa: marketing-HRM, marketing-finance, marketing-strategy; marketing-history, marketing-geography, etc.

The Scientific Committee strongly encourages collaboration between colleagues from different countries, as well as cross-cultural comparisons.

We recommend that you consult the following pages:

    Call for papers JRMPA 2021 to access the Appel à Communication JRMPA in PDF format.

    Submission format to find out about the practicalities of submission, download the style sheet and the tutorial showing how to use the platform to submit.

    Scientific Committee to find out about the members of the committee.

We look forward to seeing many of you in Lille!

The Organising Committee