---
title: "Going Global to Africa: The Next Strategic High Ground for FMCG?"
description: "At the 7th China FMCG Conference held in Shanghai from August 19-21, 2025, Wang Jun, Vice President of cross-border B2B e-commerce platform Egatee, shared insights on FMCG expansion into Africa, analyzing trends and cases. The article argues that Africa, with its demographic dividend and market potential, represents a strategic opportunity for Chinese FMCG companies to replicate past growth, urging them to act now for the next decade."
author: "王军"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2025-08-31"
categories: "Industry Trends, Management & Methods"
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citation: "王军. “Going Global to Africa: The Next Strategic High Ground for FMCG?.” New Distribution, 2025-08-31. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/going-global-to-africa-the-next-strategic-high-ground-for-fmcg-be702d50/"
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---

# Going Global to Africa: The Next Strategic High Ground for FMCG?

> At the 7th China FMCG Conference held in Shanghai from August 19-21, 2025, Wang Jun, Vice President of cross-border B2B e-commerce platform Egatee, shared insights on FMCG expansion into Africa, analyzing trends and cases. The article argues that Africa, with its demographic dividend and market potential, represents a strategic opportunity for Chinese FMCG companies to replicate past growth, urging them to act now for the next decade.

From August 19 to 21, 2025, the 7th China FMCG Conference, the 5th China FMCG Retail Innovation Conference, and the 5th China FMCG Distributor Conference grandly opened in Shanghai!

At the parallel forum "The Next Stop for China's FMCG Supply: Going Global" held on August 21, Mr. Wang Jun, Vice President of cross-border B2B e-commerce platform Egatee, delivered a keynote speech titled "FMCG Going Global to Africa: Trend Analysis and Case Studies." New Distribution has compiled and edited his remarks for our readers.

When discussing FMCG companies going global, a common question arises: **Is now still a good time to enter Africa?**

Perhaps we can start with a set of historical population data. During the Song Dynasty, China's population accounted for nearly 40% of the global total. By 1850, China's 430 million people represented about 34% of the world. Today, China's 1.4 billion people account for only 17.4% of the global population. This shift reflects the changing weight of markets in the global landscape: **as the share of a single market declines, companies must look beyond domestic borders to find new growth.**

## Global Landscape: Emerging Markets as Growth Focus

Today, a core topic in FMCG executive meetings is: **When domestic competition is fierce, is going global the right strategic choice?**

Here, we can cite two key data sources—the IMF's "World Economic Outlook 2025" and Goldman Sachs' global economic forecasts. These reports reveal the pattern of global economic growth over the coming decades:

* **Emerging markets' GDP growth will remain above the global average for an extended period.**
* **Traditional developed markets will see slower growth or even stagnation**, with limited room for expansion.

Looking at the annual GDP growth comparison chart on the left, the yellow-highlighted areas represent growth rates above the global average, clearly showing that future growth will come mainly from emerging markets, not traditional large markets.

From the global economic size ranking forecast chart on the right, the certainty of the trend becomes even clearer:

* **United States**: The world's largest economy since 1980, but it is expected to drop to second or even third place after 2050.
* **Japan**: Ranked second in 1980, but was overtaken by China in 2022 and will continue to decline in the coming decades.
* **China**: Ranked only seventh in 1980, achieved rapid leaps from 2000 to 2022, and is now second, widely predicted to become the world's largest market within the next 20 years.
* **India**: Around 13th or 14th in 2000, jumped to fifth by 2022, with remarkable growth.

This means that in the past two decades, Chinese FMCG companies benefited from the rapid growth of the domestic market. In the next two decades, new opportunity windows will emerge in **emerging markets such as India, Africa, and Southeast Asia**.

As Alibaba's Zeng Ming said: "**Work for one year, look ahead ten years.** " Companies that can identify and position themselves in future growth poles early will truly be able to plan and then act.

## Brand Landscape: The Rise and Fall of International and Local Brands

Beyond macroeconomic data, the brand-level market structure is also worth attention.

* In China, international FMCG brands hold about 32% market share, while local brands account for 68%.
* In the United States, international brands hold about 22%, with local brands at 77%.
* In Africa, however, international brands dominate with 80% of the market, while local brands hold only 20%.

This comparison clearly reveals a pattern: **in less developed markets, international brands dominate; as markets mature, local brands gradually rise.**

For Chinese FMCG companies, entering Africa means:

1. Entering directly as an "international brand" locally.
2. Leveraging the demographic dividend and consumption upgrade to quickly build market awareness.
3. Replicating the growth path that international giants once followed in the Chinese market.

## Why Africa?

Africa is often called "the last unified blue-ocean market in the world." There are three main reasons:

1. **Demographic dividend**: Over the next 20–70 years, Africa will become the core region of global population growth, with an average age of only 16–19 years, indicating huge consumption potential.
2. **National strategy drive**: China-Africa cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative continue to advance, boosting infrastructure and trade.
3. **Unique market structure**: Although Africa has 54 countries, it has certain integration features:
   > Urbanization rate has reached 45%–50% and is accelerating;
   >
   > English and French cover about 70% of the population, lowering language barriers;
   >
   > Regional integration trends are gradually taking shape;
   >
   > Mobile internet penetration is high, directly entering the mobile internet era, with rapid development of e-commerce and apps.

In e-commerce, Africa's C-end e-commerce channels currently account for less than 10%, but user growth is rapid, and the consumer base is predominantly young. **This means that first movers have the opportunity to establish standards and barriers in a blank market.**

## Channels and Users: Experience Reuse and Market Miracles

Offline channels are a core feature of the African market. The overall structure resembles China's small-B channel model of the 1990s, driven by distributors.

In Lagos, Nigeria's largest market, the Egatee platform saw a vivid case: in 2023, the yogurt brand "Hollandia" rose from third to first place in just six months through digital distribution on the B2B platform, surpassing Peak, the star product of Dutch dairy in Nigeria, and has maintained its lead ever since.

This change was not due to advertising or marketing, but because Chinese companies have accumulated rich experience in channel operations that can be reused in Africa, creating miracles in a short time.

On the user side, the African market includes high-net-worth individuals, rapidly growing urban middle class, and a large low- and middle-income group. As necessities, FMCG products account for 50% of household consumption, representing a huge existing market with purchasing power across all segments.

Notably, there is a significant opportunity for brands among African consumers. A survey from 2020–2021 showed:

* Sports brands like Nike and Adidas are the most popular in Africa.
* Chinese company Transsion, through its multi-brand strategy (Tecno, Itel, Infinix), has all its brands in Africa's Top 100, and within just 11 years achieved over 50% market share in Africa's mobile phone market.

In FMCG, it is worth noting that some Chinese FMCG brands entering Africa have achieved market breakthroughs from 0 to 1 in sub-Saharan African countries, typically taking only 1–3 years to reach the top two. Such speed is almost unimaginable in mature markets.

## How to Enter Africa?

Although Africa is a blue ocean overall, the market is not homogeneous. Companies need to choose precisely when entering:

* **North Africa**: Egypt is the first choice, serving as a gateway to the Middle East and radiating to neighboring countries.
* **West Africa**: Nigeria is the core market, with a population close to 300 million, high import dependence, and strong radiation capacity.
* **East Africa**: Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania have favorable market conditions.
* **South Africa**: Consumer awareness is close to Europe, requiring a completely different approach.

The general consensus is: **use a single country's core city as a breakthrough, then radiate to the region.**

**Final Thoughts**

The African market is both unfamiliar and full of potential. Its demographic dividend, consumption upgrade, and channel dividend are recreating the opportunity window that China's FMCG industry saw thirty years ago.

As mentioned earlier: "Work for one year, look ahead ten years." For Chinese FMCG companies, **entering Africa today may be the key step that determines the next decade**.

Follow Africa business opportunities and follow New Distribution's brand going global series reports.


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 王军
- Published: 2025-08-31
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/going-global-to-africa-the-next-strategic-high-ground-for-fmcg-be702d50/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/qllDTZdx2di5_OjChjN4yQ

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