Africa’s packaging industry is expanding steadily, driven by population growth, urbanisation, and rising demand for processed and packaged goods.
At africon, opportunities in Africa’s packaging sector frequently come up in client discussions. Earlier this year, we presented at Ucima’s headquarters in Modena during the conference “The African Market – How to benefit from the African potential.” During the event, our CEO and Founder, Marc Zander, delivered a value-packed presentation on market opportunities for Italian companies in Africa, highlighting demand drivers, priority markets, and competitive positioning.
As part of this work, we mapped the origin of packaging machinery supplied to Africa’s top 20 economies. We identified priority markets based on market potential, business environment, and operational risk.
Italy is the leading supplier of packaging machinery to Africa, with a 28% market share, followed by Germany (23%) and China (15%). This shows the strong competitive position and technological relevance of Italian packaging solutions in African markets.
africon also developed, together with MECS (Manufacturing Economic Studies), a map of promising markets for Italian packaging technologies. Insights from our presentation were also featured on the PacMedia web magazine, further extending the reach of the findings.
Through this work, africon provided actionable insights for Italian companies exploring opportunities in Africa’s packaging markets, supporting informed market entry and expansion strategies.
How big is your potential in Africa? We’d be happy to help you explore it. Feel free to contact us at info@africon.de.
Read previous SOTMs (Slides of the month) here
Slide of the month (SOTM) November. Where are African countries importing trucks from?
Slide of the month (SOTM) October. Who are the top 10 importers of washing machines in Africa?
Slide of the month (SOTM) September. Top African countries for EU automotive exports
