Top 10 business opportunities in Africa - 2022
Business iDea |
Africa actually export? It happens there are a lot of local products on the continent that have the potential to become global brands. The problem is we often overlook or look down on them. But a few interesting entrepreneurs are now turning local African products into global brands and best sellers. By focusing on made in Africa organic chocolate bars made from cocoa beans, which are harvested and processed in Ghana fair Africa is targeting ethically conscious consumers in Europe with its impressive range of organic chocolate brands. In 2018.
Alone, the business made and exported over 250,000 chocolate bars and raised about 50,000 euros from investors on Kickstarter. The same change is coming to African coffee too. For a continent that produces over 70% of cocoa beans used in chocolate and roughly 11% of coffee beans, Africa has a unique opportunity to create strong product brands that can attract premium prices from foreign consumers. On top of that, 1000s of jobs in small businesses will be created and supported by adding value to raw commodities like cocoa and coffee beans, but cocoa and coffee are only the beginning of a much bigger wave of emerging business opportunities in Africa for value-added food exports. nilotica is another example of a rare type of shea butter that is used in luxury beauty products sold around the world.
The trees that produce this butter only grow at the source of the Nile River in northern Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia by working with local women in the region to process the butter Leila Janah an American entrepreneur has built Elekk semi a luxury beauty brand with a range of skincare products that sell in over 300 beauty stores across the world. Fair African nilotica are only just two examples of several local African products that have global potential. In the coming years, more smart entrepreneurs will carve niches for themselves by exploring these products and transforming them into international brands. Number three, affordable housing. Africa is experiencing the world's highest trade of rural to urban migration. And by 2030, it is projected that up to 50% of the continent's population could be living in towns and cities. Urbanization is great. But where will all these people live? And even if the government's tried, they cannot build homes fast enough to meet the teeming demand for accommodation.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. The housing deficit is estimated at 20 million homes in South Africa. The deficit stands at 2.3 million homes. Africa's housing crisis opens a lot of interesting opportunities for several industries from cement production and furniture making to building contractors and mortgages. It's no surprise Africa's richest man Alico Dangote has expanded his presence in cement production across several countries on the continent. His interest in cement now makes up a significant portion of his net worth.
But beyond conventional housing, there is an interesting trend of homes being built from cheap and durable alternatives like shipping containers. In Kenya, entrepreneurs like Denise Madani are also converting shipping containers into amazingly creative residential and office accommodation at half the price of contemporary housing. In Cape Town, South Africa building contractors like Berman Khalil are offering sustainable and affordable housing options by converting decommissioned shipping containers into low-cost homes. These alternative options are significantly cutting down the cost of building homes, making them affordable to a larger segment of the population.
So far, most of Africa's housing developments have focused on the premium and elite segment of the market. While the large margins from this segment have been very lucrative for investors, the biggest opportunities will emerge from providing housing at scale and at affordable prices. Number four virtual education. There is a trend of academic inflation currently happening across Africa. To compete for job opportunities. Africans in the labor market are investing in higher or specialized academic degrees, diplomas, and certifications in order to make their CVs more impressive and boost their chances of employment promotion and career progression. learning institutions outside Africa are also benefiting from the explosion in demand for higher and specialist education.
The top
destinations are universities in North America, Europe Australia, academic
degrees from the US and UK now cost Africans an average of up to $50,000. We're
still the overwhelming demand for higher education in Africa has now led to a
string of fake universities in Europe and America that are involved in an
elaborate multimillion-dollar scam of offering admission for non-accredited
courses, degrees, and programs. While the demand side for quality higher education
in Africa has dramatically evolved, the supply side largely remains as it's
been for more than 40 years.
The truth is the traditional business model of sprawling location-based and comes to us if you want to learn university campuses can no longer match the current growth and sophistication of demand for higher education on the continent. People want flexible learning options that allow them to work, learn and earn all at the same time. Africa's higher education systems are ripe for disruption, and there are already a few interesting entrepreneurs, investors, and players leading the charge. The African Virtual University is a trailblazer disrupting the conventional model of higher education on the continent. In partnership with universities within and outside Africa. The intergovernmental organization has already trained 43,000 students using its virtual online platforms by the year 2040 PwC estimates that Africa will have the world's largest labor force ahead of both India and China to address the current and future skills shortages. In this market, smart entrepreneurs and investors are cornering a potentially lucrative market. By focusing on flexible and scalable business models that are cost-effective yet profitable.
The growth in the virtual education space will be one of the most interesting business opportunities in Africa to watch in the coming years. Number five outsourcing business process outsourcing is now a huge multi-billion dollar transnational industry that is expected to reach $52 billion in market size by 2023. growing at an average rate of 11% per year, the rising dominance of E-commerce and the digital economy is leading companies to demand more data, real-time services, and a presence across multiple platforms. As a result, more companies are outsourcing their accounting data processing, customer service, human talent, and supply chain needs.
While India and the Philippines have benefited from the explosion of an outsourcing demand in the USA and UK, Africa has become the big player in business process outsourcing for the global Francophone market. The number of business process outsourcing companies in Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Mauritius, and Madagascar continues to skyrocket. In Morocco, the business process outsourcing market leader in Africa, the industry employs over 70,000 people, more business process outsourcing are setting up shop on African soil for a variety of reasons. The lower cost advantage of running these centers in Africa means that companies can be more competitive and profitable. Also, internet speeds in places like Madagascar are faster than in several developed countries, thereby significantly improving the quality of service.
In Kenya, business process outsourcing firms like Samma SIRs use local tech-savvy Africans to support some of the big names in Silicon Valley such as Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo in their artificial intelligence efforts. As the global digital economy expands, Africa's large pool of young tech savvy English and French speakers offers a major attraction and promising opportunity for global business process outsourcing firms looking to serve the growing outsourcing demand from clients in North America and Europe.
The
outsourcing space will surely be one of the top business opportunities in
Africa to watch in the coming years. Number six, fashion and apparel fashion is
a $2.4 trillion global industry. But Africa currently only owns a very thin
slice of it. The global fashion industry has a vast and complex value chain
that stretches from the farmers who grow cotton, silk, and other natural fibers
to the massive production factories in Asia that spin the fibers into a wide
range of textiles. The chain stretches further to the armies of workers in
garment factories scattered across Asia and South America, who convert textiles
into a wide range of apparel stocked by mass merchandise chains around the
world and high street retail stores in New York, London, Paris, and Milan.
Thankfully, some creative entrepreneurs are starting to squeeze out some space
for Africa in this vast and lucrative global chain. In the coming years, two
significant opportunities in the global fashion value chain will further open
up to entrepreneurs and investors in Africa who are keen on a bigger share of
this massive industry.
The first opportunity is in apparel production, with rising labor costs in China and parts of Southeast Asia, forcing more factories to seek alternative locations in Africa where labor is cheaper, several apparel producers are already setting up shop on the continent. among companies like h&m and Primark that are now sourcing from Africa UAG and one of China's largest shoe manufacturers is expanding in Ethiopia and in East Africa. Also, specialist apparel producers like C and H Garmin factory in Rwanda are producing uniforms, safety vests, and military kits that are exported to Europe and the USA. While the influx of Asian apparel producers to Africa is likely to have an impact on the continent's indigenous textile industry. The potential of these massive factories to create large-scale jobs or an export income and encourage the growth of supporting industries will likely create big opportunities for local entrepreneurs.
The second opportunity that stares into Africa's face is fashion design and retail. A growing number of brilliant and creative fashion designers is emerging from the continent and the world is starting to take notice. African fashion labels like Senegal's Tong Goro by Sarah deve are attracting international celebrities and customer bases outside the continent in places like Europe and North America. And recently night, the global sportswear giant collaborated with a local Nigerian designer for a special edition jersey that was inspired by a dire a traditional print from Nigeria. The design sold out within 14 hours after it was released on the next website.
With a growing global curiosity and appetite for exotic and refreshing fashion designs from Africa. The continents fashion designers and entrepreneurs have a massive market and untapped global audience to serve. There are vast opportunities in potential partnerships with big and established fashion brands, distribution arrangements, e-commerce possibilities, and artisanal and exotic fashion pieces. On top of these international opportunities, there is a growing domestic market of over 600 million young and fashionable Africans who now take pride in wearing locally inspired fashion.
The African Development Bank estimates that Africa's local fashion industry has the potential to be worth $15.5 billion over the next five years. This clearly makes it one of the most promising business opportunities in Africa to watch. Number seven urban logistics. The future of Africa is in the cities and by 2030 up to half of the continents. 1.4 billion people will be located in the cities. Currently, about 60 African cities have a population of over 1 million people. At the top of the pack are cities like Legos, 21 million, Kinshasa 10 million, and Cairo nine point 5,000,001 of the biggest problems that appear to be worsening with the growth of Africa's urban populations is congestion.
Most cities on the continent do not yet have
well-diversified transport systems. So getting around town can be a very
frustrating endeavor. It's a logistical nightmare that worries both consumers
and businesses. Thankfully, some African entrepreneurs are already having this
problem. In Kenya. Twiga foods use technology to pool the orders of several
urban retailers saving them a trip to the market by delivering to their
doorstep. It is now the largest distributor of a number of basic food staples
in Kenya and the startup raised $10.3 million last year. In Nigeria Max is a
fast-growing startup that provides last-mile delivery services. Last year, it
launched an on-demand motorcycle courier service for clients who have critical
deliveries that need to beat the notorious congestion on Legos roads. As we go
into the future, more entrepreneurs will figure out ways to outsmart the
complex problems and frustrating challenges of logistics in urban areas. In the
coming years, urban logistics will likely remain one of the most promising
emerging business opportunities in Africa.
Number eight digital financial services. No other emerging industry in Africa is attracting as much international capital and backing as digital financial services popularly known as fintech. Last year, FinTech startups in Africa raised $284.6 million from investors, almost half of all the funding raised by African tech startups in the whole year. It's hardly surprising why there is a gold rush in Africa's FinTech industry.
\Over 60% of Africa's adult population is unbanked up to 350 million of them own and use phones but fewer own a bank account or have access to formal financial services. That's a huge market. Indeed, by using mobile phones and the internet, FinTech entrepreneurs across the continent are deepening financial inclusion and unlocking incredible market opportunities in financial services. And the opportunities range from processing payments and money transfers to savings and access to credit. Current estimates project that over the next three years, Africa's FinTech industry will grow by at least $40 billion and contribute up to $150 billion to Africa's GDP by 2020. It's this huge market potential that's making investors fall over themselves to invest in African FinTech companies.
In the last 12 months, two FinTech startups from the Kenya branch and Tala raised $135 million in Nigeria for companies cellulite paga haystack and Lydia attracted a total of $72.4 million and from South Africa Jumeau and Yoko received $68 million. These are only the headliners. Several other FinTech startups like Tunisia are expensive and Nigeria's piggy bank, among others, raised lower amounts that were still impressive. While the amount of capital that's flowing into African FinTech startups may be impressive.
It's who these funds are coming from. That's even much more impressive. For example, Stripe and visa to global payments giants were part of the investment deal in the haystack, a promising three-year-old Nigerian digital payments startup. Other interesting investors in this emerging industry include Goldman Sachs Y Combinator partic Ahmed your network and China's Tencent. As the fever for FinTech in Africa continues to grip local and international investors, the industry will very likely remain one of the most lucrative business and investment opportunities in Africa to watch in the coming years. Number nine low-cost private schools.
According to the report titled The business of education in Africa, it is estimated that one in four African students a total of 66 million will be enrolled in private schools by the year 2021. rapid population growth, poor funding, corruption, and neglect have caused a serious deterioration in the quality of education in public schools on the continent. As a result, more African parents are looking to private schools to ensure that their kids get a good education, and the demand for this alternative is skyrocketing. For example, in Nigeria, the number of low-cost private schools in Legos its commercial capital is estimated to be as high as 18,000. By comparison, in 20 1011, the city had just 1600 government schools. And this trend of low-cost private education is leading entrepreneurs to come up with several interesting models. In Tanzania.
The Silverleaf Academy is a chain of low-cost private
primary schools that charge a daily school fee of 1.5 dollars. The school uses
a technology-based approach and offers a curriculum taught by internally
trained teachers. In Nigeria, the Lekki Peninsula affordable schools is a
standalone low-cost school that charges an average annual fee of $125. The
school has received up to $75,000 in funding from the village capital and Pearson
Affordable Learning. As more players enter the low-cost private education space
on the continent. I suspect the fierce competition will improve the quality of
education, drive down school fees and afford many children the chance of a
decent education rather than set up exclusive private schools for the elite who
says entrepreneurs can't make good returns and find tons of fulfillment and
educating children on moss.
Number 10 Off Grid Solar. While policymakers in Europe and North America debate about the most fitting energy transition strategy for their countries, Africa presents a clean and open slate for renewable energy, especially solar. The race to spread solar power across Africa is now a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to attract entrepreneurs and investors from within and outside the continent. What makes solar one of the most attractive business opportunities in Africa right now is the significant potential for off-grid solar solutions. And the demand is massive. Over 600 million Africans are tired of waiting for energy from centrally managed power grids that are slow to deploy inefficient and inflexible to the continent's growing power needs. And on a continent that enjoys over 300 days of sunlight and many parts. It's hard to beat the value proposition of a product that bypasses the central power grid and meets your energy needs by tapping directly from the sun, a free energy source.
That's why the solar market in Africa has exploded and the number of players in this space continues to grow. Last year BBO xx, a solar systems developer signed a landmark deal with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to deploy off-grid solar kits and mini-grids to 2.5 million citizens. In the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is estimated that over 60 million people are still not connected to the grid and Togo. The company has also entered a $4 million Partnership deal with the government to supply 300,000 homes with off-grid solar kits. So far. BBO xx has raised more than $66 million from investors to increase its footprint across Africa. But this is just one company. There are several others. And this is only the beginning of a big party that is far from getting started. As the continent that emits the lowest levels of co2, but has the most to lose from climate change.
Africa's solar entrepreneurs will benefit immensely from funds like the
World Bank's $200 billion Climate Action Fund and funds from the private sector
like shells $1 billion annual budget for clean energy has more funds and
players trying to serve Africa's massive demand for off-grid solar solutions. This
will surely be an exciting industry to watch. There you have it, viewers. Those
were our top 10 business opportunities in Africa that will make more
millionaires in the coming years. It is now abundantly clear that
entrepreneurship holds the keys to Africa's transformation, not global pity,
and certainly not foreign aid. Do you know about other hot business
opportunities which weren't mentioned in this video? Share this information in
our comment section and let's discuss it together. If you found this video useful,
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