Rising consumerism increases demand for FMCG logistics

Logistics companies, investors and property developers are building warehouses across Africa to cater for rising consumer demand. With the majority of goods currently being imported, FTW has found that sophisticated logistics chains are required to move often high-value and fragile goods across thousands of kilometres of poor roads and through any number of border posts. This demand is expected to grow. Africa’s population of over a billion people has become wealthier over the past decade – with the notable exception of countries such as Eritrea, Algeria and Zimbabwe. Their combined spending power is nearly a trillion US dollars a year. A combination of remittances from the diaspora and local job creation has seen the lower middle class (earning US$2 to US$4 a day) rise to 24% of the population, according to African Development Bank estimates. The consumer class (earning US$2 to US$20 a day), now makes up around 40% of the African population.