Yep, the partition design has a lot of benefits. My PH friends in Namibia and South Africa often recommend partition bullets, like the Nosler Partition, for that very reason.
Terrain changes a lot, grassland in the vallyes and dense bush on the mountain side. Many shots in dense bush are closer than 150 yards, sometimes less than 50, and you don’t always have a lot of time to ensure perfect shot placement. Bullet velocity will be still be very fast and some bullets explode on impact if speed is too high. In the grassland, shots are 250-400 yards, and bullet speed will be a lot slower on impact, and might not expand well. It is difficult to find one bullet that works from 30 to 530.
On thick skinned African animals, bullets like the Berger VLD Hunter does not work well. If you show up with that, your friendly PH in his worn khakis will quickly tell you to put that away, and bring you a box of partition ammo. They have seen too many failures.
The heart on African animals is further forward compared to North American game, behind the shoulder blade. You need a tougher bullet that holds together if you expect to hit thick bone on the way in.