Business Activator. Startup & Growth Specialist for Africa-focused Entrepreneurs
My brother owns three dogs and Oscar, an African grey parrot. The emotional bond between pets and their owners can be strong. In the last 5 years, I have witnessed, firsthand, the personal sacrifices and rising financial costs my brother has borne to take care of his pets, even in difficult economic times. In big cities across Africa, it is increasingly common to find (young) people walking their pet dogs in streets and walkways in residential areas. These pets typically range from large and menacing guard dogs to fashionable toy dogs. Pet ownership is growing in Africa largely due to rising urbanization, a large youth demographic, a growing need for physical security at home, and the strong influence of social media that drives a popular culture of pet ownership. While this growing market has created a demand for several pet-related goods and services, the most favoured category so far is pet food. In 2024, African pet owners will spend an estimated $2.4 billion on pet food, according to Statista. Led by South Africa, which has the biggest pet food market on the continent, estimates suggest that more than 50% of the pet food demand in Africa comes from a handful of countries that include Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Namibia, and Angola. Despite the growing demand for pet food in Africa, the continent still imports a significant proportion of its pet food needs. Between 2012 and 2021, for example, imports of pet food into Africa doubled. While South Africa is Africa’s top pet food importer, it is also the only African country that currently exports pet food. With 94.4% of the pet food export market share in Africa, South Africa exports pet food products to India, Malaysia, and Namibia. However, as rising inflation and weakening currencies make imported pet food products more expensive, a growing number of local producers have introduced products to compete with foreign brands. One interesting example is Golden Penny, one of Nigeria’s largest food brands (popular for its flour, pasta, noodles, semovita, and vegetable oil products), which now supplies the local market with competitively-priced dog food products. As pet ownership continues to rise across urban Africa and foreign and local pet food brands jostle for market share, it will be interesting to see how this growing multi-billion-dollar market evolves. If you found this post insightful, please LIKE, SHARE, and FOLLOW. It tells me you want more. _____ Hello, I'm John-Paul Iwuoha. I lead the market intelligence team at Activator HQ that tracks Africa’s Top 100 most interesting business opportunities with a minimum market value of $100 million (each). You can access the full list of opportunities with detailed business plans on the ActivatorHQ website (see link in my profile). If you need strategic guidance and support to develop your business idea, raise funds for business, or grow/diversify your existing business, visit ActivatorHQ to learn more about my work.
