A “triple pull” in food demand is creating significant opportunities for Africa’s food processors if they can enhance their competitiveness, according to a new report.
The latest publication by the Malabo Montpellier Panel highlights how population growth, urbanization, and rising middle-class incomes are converging to create vast market potential for processed foods across the continent.
Titled “VALUE-UP: Policy Innovations to Advance Africa’s Food Processing Sector for Growth, Jobs, and Health,” the report provides African governments with a framework to adopt policy and institutional innovations that can strengthen their food processing industries.
These changes aim to capitalize on shifting market demands, reducing reliance on food imports to meet growing supply needs.
“A growing class of wealthier, time-constrained, mostly urban populations in Africa is increasingly seeking shelf-stable, ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook, or easy-to-prepare processed foods,” said Dr Ousmane Badiane, Executive Chairperson of AKADEMIYA2063 and Co-Chair of the Malabo Montpellier Panel.
“This demographic shift is changing both the types and amounts of food in demand, and the food processing sector must quickly advance to meet these evolving needs.”
Africa’s population is projected to increase by 2.5 per cent annually, from 1.2 billion in 2016 to 2.4 billion by 2050.
The continent’s urban population is expected to grow from approximately 43 per cent in 2020 to 60 per cent by 2050, with the middle class anticipated to make up 42 per cent of the total population by 2060.
Despite the growth potential, the sector faces numerous challenges.
Environmental factors like climate change and water shortages, alongside structural constraints such as inadequate infrastructure, skill gaps, and trade barriers, hinder its ability to meet the rising demand for processed foods.
Processed foods offer several advantages, including addressing micronutrient deficiencies through large-scale food fortification.
Governments and stakeholders must collaborate on strategies to overcome the sector’s challenges, promoting the production of safe, nutritious, and high-quality processed foods.
“A vibrant food processing sector generates jobs,” said Prof. Joachim von Braun, Distinguished Professor at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn and Co-Chair of the Malabo Montpellier Panel.
“If well-designed, Africa’s food processing industry can provide more diverse, nutritious, less perishable, and more convenient foods that enhance people’s well-being and contribute to sustainable economic growth, with women particularly benefiting.”
As Africa’s youth population grows—expected to reach one billion people aged between 15 and 35 by 2063—the food processing sector presents a sustainable avenue for youth employment.
The sector already accounts for nearly a third of total manufacturing employment in many sub-Saharan African countries.
The report offers examples of progress from Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal, where governments have prioritized food processing within their development agendas.
Ghana’s Ten Point Industrial Transformation Agenda, including programs such as One District One Warehouse and One District One Factory, supports food processors by providing financial incentives and encouraging value addition.
Similarly, Kenya’s Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy and Senegal’s Plan Sénégal Émergent (PSE) prioritize food processing.
Kenya’s Special Economic Zones and Export Processing Zones programs attract investment by offering tax incentives and reduced electricity tariffs, while Senegal’s National Fund for Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral Development and Sovereign Funds of Strategic Investments support smallholders and food processing SMEs.
The Malabo Montpellier Panel’s action agenda recommends further investments in technology, infrastructure, and vocational training to spur innovation.
It also calls for creating a conducive business environment through tax incentives and improved access to capital, strengthening farmer-processor linkages, and removing trade barriers, particularly at the domestic and continental levels where the most significant opportunities exist.
