Average growth in the African beer market could reach 5% by 2017, making it a faster growing market than Asia and Latin America, according to new research.
Market research group Canadean has said that it expects more Africans to enter the market from the home brew sector, while commercial beer and premium brands continue to be particularly successful. The top three markets on the continent are South Africa, which is expected to have consumed more than 30,000 hectolitres of beer in 2014; followed by Nigeria on 15,000 hectolitres; and Angola with more than 12,000.
Canadean account director Kevin Baker said: “Africa has seen inflation fall, foreign debt shrink and GDP rise in the last few years. Moreover, population growth – once feared as a major contributor to poverty – is now perceived as an asset, with the working age population set to outgrow that of China and India.”
The nature of the market presents further opportunities to commercial brewers, Canadean claimed, with 90% of the African market already being controlled by brewing giants SABMiller, Heineken, Castel and Diageo. The market’s dynamic is further changed by premium brands, which witnessed an average annual growth rate of almost 12% between 2008 and 2013, compared to 6% for mainstream beer and 6% for African beer overall.
Baker added: “At the moment homemade alcohol products still dominate the African market, but they pose a significant health risk. This is an incentive for consumers to move away from ‘home brews’ and instead turn to commercial beer.
“The growth of premium beers is a result of the growing middle class In Africa, who drink premium beer as a display of social status.”
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