Africa in Motion: Frances Quarcoopome
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Frances Quarcoopome shares her insights on African creativity, the power of relationships and why cultural understanding matters to global brands operating in African markets.
Interview by Lesibane Mohale
Frances Quarcoopome has spent over a decade doing something many global organisations claim to understand but rarely do: figuring out how Africa actually works. Before she was talking about cultural intelligence, she was putting culture into motion.
She started by creating brand experiences across the continent. Now she helps organisations understand the context in which those experiences and the businesses behind them actually exist. Frances is one of the most important cultural voices to come out of Ghana and a strong advocate for African creativity and cultural relevance. A CEO, creative producer, keynote speaker, tastemaker, culture strategist, podcast host and award-winning creative entrepreneur, she wears many hats, but they all point in the same direction.
Through JamJar, a creative company she co-founded in 2013, they have delivered world-class brand activations, corporate events and cultural experiences across African markets for brands such as the NFL, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Coca-Cola and the World Economic Forum. JamJar helped bring American football to Cape Town as part of the NFL’s expansion into Africa and supported the first NFL Flag championship tournament in Ghana.
As creator and host of the Culture is Currency podcast, Frances talks with business founders, investors and entrepreneurs about the cultural nuances that shape businesses across the continent. The platform makes a simple but vital point: understanding Africa isn’t just about knowing the market; it’s about knowing how the market works culturally.
Frances’ path into the corporate world wasn’t a conventional one. She began by curating rooftop parties in Accra to showcase Ghana’s growing creative scene in a more modern, ambitious and contemporary light. Today, Frances has moved from making cultural experiences to codifying what those experiences mean and unpacking the cultural intelligence global brands need to succeed in Africa.
In our conversation, Frances challenges both African creatives and global brands to rethink how they see the continent: to value what is already here, question their assumptions and recognise the power of African creativity, culture and community. After years of navigating the gap between how the world sees Africa and how Africa actually works, Frances is turning that lived experience into a new kind of cultural intelligence one that asks African creatives to trust what they know and global brands to do the work of understanding it.
LM: How do you define African creativity, and what makes it so special?
Frances: I would define African creativity as adventurous, bold and engaging. It is boundary-breaking, but it really comes out of resilience, and I think that is what makes it special. A lot of the creativity and innovation comes from not having the same foundation or access to certain resources, and that makes it even more remarkable.The other part of it is the depth of our cultures, and our ability to infuse that into the different things that we do.
LM: What should African brands and creatives be doing more of, and less of, if they want to compete on the global stage?
Frances: I think African brands are doing very well when it comes to competing on a global stage. What they need to do more of is hone in on the substance behind the look and feel. A lot of people focus on the visuals, on how their brand looks, but then the service on the back end is sometimes lacking. Customer service, timely responses, those sorts of things really make a difference. You may have a great brand, but if the customer experience with you is not end to end, you do not build brand loyalty, brand consistency or return custom. And that is ultimately what you want. You can make one sale, but can you make three with the same person?
What they need to do less of is assuming that global brands somehow have everything, and being intimidated by them. It is about not trying to mimic or imitate, and instead valuing what we have and tapping into our African markets.
LM: African women play a central role in shaping communities, economies and culture across the continent. If you could commission one global campaign celebrating African women, what story would it tell?
Frances: It would tell the story of the depth of African women. Their ability to be in rooms, to wear multiple hats, and to carry families and nations in so many ways.
But I would want to highlight the joy as well, and the lightness. Yes, they do so much, but they are also so much fun and so much joy. And the community that we have as African women, for each other, is really unprecedented.
LM: After more than 12 years of bridging global brands and African markets, what is the biggest lesson you have learned about doing business on the continent?
Frances: The biggest lesson I have learned is do not underestimate the power of people. Our markets are relationship-based, and building your network and your relationships in a way that is truly authentic and meaningful is what moves the needle.
So when things are tough or challenging, or you need someone to come through for you, that relationship, how you treated them, how you spoke to them, how you respected them, is the thing that helps you succeed.
LM: Your podcast Culture is Currency unpacks the cultures, nuances, and contexts that shape what it takes to grow and build a business across the continent. What is the one African story that you think deserves more attention?
Frances: The one African story that deserves more attention is the builders. At the moment I am really focused on the perception people have about the continent and changing that. I know a lot of us talk about changing the narrative, but the story I mean is about the people who succeed no matter what.
It feels obvious, because it is the story people tell. But I think about my own story, coming from not much, and how I have invested, and how community is what helped me build my business in so many ways. A close community, not necessarily a big one, but a creative community, and how we support each other.
There is also the creative story of how the creative industry in Africa actually started. Say in Ghana, which people really sparked that, and what that looks like. The LGBTQ community, for example, is so intertwined with the trends the mainstream supports, and yet they are targeted.
LM: What is one project by JamJar that perfectly demonstrates why cultural intelligence should be built into the way brands operate, not simply added to a campaign?
Frances: A project that highlights that is the NFL Africa project we worked on in 2022, 2023 and 2024. We activated for them across the continent, and we made sure there was a level of cultural intelligence in how the NFL showed up, whether that was in Ghana, in Kenya or in South Africa.
Making sure it was relevant to that local space is what made the campaign successful. It made people resonate with seeing the NFL value them as a consumer of American football, and as worthy of the Super Bowl rings, the Vince Lombardi trophy and NFL legends coming to them. Really providing that experience was very important.
LM: If someone had just one week to understand African culture and experience the continent's vibrant energy, where would you send them and why?
Frances: First of all, I do not think we can say African culture, because there are 54 countries, each very unique in their culture. So it is very hard to say you could go to one place and experience African culture overall.
But in terms of countries with a deep cultural experience that is really tangible, I think Ghana does a great job of that. It is very easy to access our local culture and context. I would also send them to Dakar. Senegal has a rich culture that you can tap into. The challenge there can be language, but it is phenomenally diverse and interesting. And I would send them to Kenya. So Ghana, Senegal and Kenya, just to see the difference across the continent.
LM: What advice would you give global brands looking to succeed in Africa and build genuine cultural fluency?
Frances: The number one thing is do not underestimate what cultural due diligence is, and really take the time. I find that a lot of global brands will do legal, governance and financial due diligence, but the one thing they do not spend time on is the cultural due diligence.
Understanding how business is done in that part of the world, and what the local dynamics around consumption are. It is not going to fit your preconceived notion of how consumers operate, and that is for all sorts of reasons: political, historical and economic. So it is important that the cultural due diligence is done.
The second thing is perceptions and assumptions. The starting point has to be perceptions. Brands need to understand what perceptions and assumptions they are bringing into that market, in order to challenge them and change them. That preconceived notion of Ghana or Nigeria is not always the reality on the ground. If you really want to be culturally fluent, you need to be able to understand your own perceptions and assumptions.
LM: Africa is still often framed through narrow stereotypes. What is the biggest misconception about the continent that you would like to change?
Frances: There are so many, but my two biggest are that it is unsafe and that it is risky. They could not be further from the truth in so many ways. Some of the safest countries on earth are on this continent. The sense of community here, in terms of where you are going and what you are doing, is high. Obviously it depends where you are, but that is one of the biggest ones.
The second is the idea that it is risky. There is a report that states we pay almost 13.5% interest because of the perceived risk factor, when actually the return on investment in Africa is higher than in Europe. So that is one of the biggest misconceptions: this idea that this is somewhere you cannot do business.
LM: When you look back on your career many years from now, what do you hope people will say changed because of the work you do?
Frances: I hope people will see that being truly yourself, being truly authentic, and being committed to creativity that has high integrity matters. By that I mean you are not copying, you are genuinely coming up with concepts and ideas that are truly your own.
I hope people will say that they changed the way they engaged with other people, the way they saw the continent, and the way they saw themselves as an African creative or an African agency. I am hoping my work will showcase that, and that people will say it changed because of the work I have done. And that the way people engage with global brands changed too, knowing that that is a possibility and an option.
Africa in Motion is a TIA Creative Studio interview series spotlighting Africa’s trailblazers in the advertising, marketing and creative industries. Visionaries who are putting African creativity on the world map and shaping culture from Lagos to London, Accra to Atlanta and Jozi to Boston. Featuring agency leaders, strategists, creatives, entrepreneurs and brand marketers, each conversation aims to unpack insights, emerging trends, shifts in culture and ideas that are redefining the African narrative.
If you are a brand, agency or freelancer looking to collaborate, connect with Lesibane Mohale at les@tiastudio.co.uk
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