NUTRITIONAL PRODUCT MARKET
In the past, the African market had very little demand for any imported goods from the United States, due to the consumer’s general lack of disposable income. Recently, many countries have become home to metropolitan areas with a more urbanized and entrepreneurial workforce and economy. These areas have a higher purchasing power than the rural areas in Africa, making exportation to Africa a more appealing investment than ever before!
Countries in Africa with metropolises include Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, the Ivory Coast, Morocco, Ghana, Kenya, Algeria, Ethiopia, Angola, Senegal, Libya, Zimbabwe, Niger, Uganda, Mozambique, Madacascar, Tunisia, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. A recent 5-11% decrease in poverty opens up new opportunities and reveals a promising future for US companies to export to African countries. There are currently very few nutritional products present in the African market, which offers US nutritional products companies an opportunity to pioneer in a new and growing market. No venture is without risk. Nutritional products companies in the United States will need to significantly invest in research and development to adapt their products to appeal to and meet the demands of African consumers.
In a region where nearly 1/3 of food is lost or wasted each year, often before it even reaches consumers, maintaining nutritional value and integrity of products has become a priority to African governments and consumers. As a result of the changes in the standard African diet and increase in healthcare access in urban areas, education on health and nutrition is increased—along with the demand for nonperishable or semi-durable supplements and products with high nutritional value.
A more modern cold chain development also promises to improve the mass quantity of goods that spoil before consumption. The efforts put in place by the GCCA open Africa up to imports from the United States, and it allows US businesses to pioneer the diversification of a predominantly untapped agrarian region.
East Africa has seen drastic growth in recent years. The business strategies of Africa’s more urbanized regions are paving the way for the rest of the continent. Kenya, for instance, is the country with the largest metropolitan area in East Africa and is considered by the United States Government to hold the most potential for economic growth in the East African Community (EAC). Kenya’s innovations include incorporation of mobile-based money, where they currently sustain their global leadership. It also remains competitive in global markets with a growing, diversified private sector.
Infrastructural development plans are increasing Kenya’s potential even further (and Africa’s by default). These plans suggest extensive changes in the way Kenyan communities are run, including their policies on trade. One of these plans, known as Vision 2030, seeks to dramatically improve the nation’s economy by meeting consumer demands, demands that have been expanding from agricultural markets as a result of the nation’s growing middle class and increase in disposable incomes.
Sectors with the most potential for growth in Africa are currently within healthcare products and services, so nutritional products exports to Africa may experience greater success than other US products. Societal changes are transforming the traditional emphasis on rural life to an increasing modern growth of urban areas. As diets change, the need for diversity increases. This increased demand for diversification in a territory that remains virtually unexplored by nutritional products companies offers a rare find for export investments, one that will surely push US companies to invest before the competition does.
