For vendors
Appointing a distributor in Africa is a decision about execution, not coverage. This page sets out what appointment involves, what we do in the first thirty days, and the milestones we work to.
What appointment involves
Market entry
We establish where the proposition is commercially relevant before we build pipeline around it, so early opportunities reflect real demand.
Partner recruitment and qualification
We work with up to three partners per vendor in each country, selected for their technical capability, customer relationships and complementary areas of expertise. Each receives direct commercial and technical support, with clear opportunity registration and protection.
Enablement
A structured progression from online training to independent selling, set out below, tied to live opportunities.
Support through the deal cycle
We remain engaged through the deal cycle, from first qualification to close.
After signature
The first thirty days
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Map the vendor to the market
We identify the end-user organisations in each country that match the vendor's ideal customer profile.
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Map those end users to partners
We match them to the reseller partners best placed to reach them.
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Get our own team enabled
Our sales and technical people complete as much of the vendor's enablement as possible within the first month.
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Agree the plan and start executing
We agree the market plan with the vendor and begin working it with the selected partners.
The first year
What to expect, and when
These are the milestones we work to from the date of signature, published so that a forecast can be built on them.
The milestones assume a market where the vendor has no existing partners or pipeline. Where partners or live opportunities already exist, we start from there.
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Month 3
First partner enabled
Recruited, qualified and trained to the point of being able to hold a credible first conversation.
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Month 6
Qualified pipeline
Real opportunities with named accounts, developed with the partner.
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Months 9–12
First closed deal
African enterprise cycles are long. A first win inside a year is a good outcome, not a slow one.
Momentum — repeatable pipeline rather than individual wins — takes closer to eighteen months in a new market.
What enablement means here
Enablement here is a progression rather than a programme. A partner moves through it at the pace their capability allows.
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Online training
Foundation product knowledge, completed before anything else begins.
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Scheduled sales and technical training
Monthly sales training and quarterly technical training keep partner teams current as the product and the threat picture move.
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Engineering shadowing
Partner engineers work alongside ours on live work. This is the step that determines whether a partner can stand alone later.
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Joint proof of concept and proof of value
The partner leads each proof of value with the customer. Our engineers and the vendor's provide the technical support.
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Independent selling
The partner runs the cycle. We stay available, but we are no longer required in the room.
How we work commercially
We work in collaboration with our partners and our vendors. Growth Hub operates partner-led and back-to-back: we hold no stock, and every end-user sale runs through a partner. That is what keeps the channel willing to invest in your product.
That extends to margin. We sell collaboratively with the channel, and a partner's margin on a deal they develop stays theirs.
It also matters that your product pays a partner more than once. Discovery findings — unmanaged devices, obsolete software, unintended exposure, configurations that were never meant to ship — can create remediation work the partner scopes and delivers directly. A partner whose services revenue is attached to your product has a reason to stay in the account after the sale, and to go looking for the next finding.
Growth Hub holds distribution rights across Africa for every vendor in the portfolio, with active market focus in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco and Egypt. Commercial terms are agreed vendor by vendor.
The objection we hear most
"Everyone wants to hold the brand. Nobody wants to do anything for it."
It is a fair complaint. Our answer is on this page: a plan for the first thirty days, published milestones, certified sales and technical staff, and live engagements. We take on an appointment only where we believe we can deliver for it.
What we ask for
- A defined territory, so investment in partner recruitment has a return
- A named vendor contact with authority to support the region
- Enablement access for our technical team and our partners
- Deal registration discipline that protects partner investment
- A realistic ramp expectation — African enterprise cycles are long
Current portfolio
Growth Hub represents runZero, Censys and Zero Networks and holds distribution rights across Africa for each. Growth Hub holds all relevant sales and technical certifications and meets the distributor requirements of runZero, Censys and Zero Networks.
Together they answer four questions about the same exposure: what exists, what is reachable, what has access and what can move. Today, Zero Networks restricts where privileged and service accounts can log in. Dedicated capabilities for machine and AI-agent identity, secrets and certificate lifecycle are where the portfolio is expanding.
We welcome conversations with cybersecurity vendors whose technology complements our portfolio and addresses a clear customer need in our markets.
Before taking on an appointment, we agree the partner opportunity, technical support requirements and resources needed to build the business.