Last week, Smallstarter Africa released this insightful market research about the big market trends and business opportunities to watch in 2021.

Some of the opportunities are quite familiar. But some will very likely shock you.

I'm sharing an excerpt of the list here:

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Every crisis creates two things: problems and opportunities.

As the world fights COVID-19 and its devastating impacts on human life, the economy, businesses, and jobs, we are often too distracted by the problems to notice the growing opportunities around us — especially in an interesting market like Africa.

Surprisingly, last year, despite the pandemic and the lockdowns and business shutdowns that came with it, tech startups across Africa still raised more than $1.3 billion from local and international investors.

Africa has significant growth potential. And that’s why you should pay close attention to the business opportunities on this list.

These are the biggest business opportunities in Africa that will likely define 2021 and the rest of the new decade.

These opportunities will inspire new business ideas, spark creativity and innovation, and create considerable wealth, growth, and jobs on the continent.

Some of the opportunities on this list are quite familiar. But some will very likely shock you.

If you’re thinking of starting a business or diversifying into a new business this year, this detailed list of opportunities provides clear insights to guide your next moves.

The business opportunities you’re about to read are based on serious but unsolved problems, underserved and ignored needs, growing consumer demand, and shifts and changes in the market.

You are going to learn a lot from this.

Don’t forget to SHARE this list with your smart friends.

They’re going to thank you for it.

Let’s meet the big market trends and business opportunities in Africa to watch in 2021 and beyond.

1. Branded food products



With over a billion mouths to feed, food is one of the biggest business opportunities in Africa.

In fact, the UN estimates that agribusiness on the continent could be worth $1 trillion by 2030.

But there is something very strange about how food is sold in many parts of Africa.

During the harvest season, most food products are abundant, fresh, and cheap. And the market glut and oversupply often leads to a lot of waste.

But on the shelves of many of the local supermarkets and international retailers in Africa’s urban areas, something very different is happening. There are lots of branded food products imported from other parts of the world — the USA, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and South America.

And therein lies the conundrum:

Why does a continent that produces large amounts of food still spend over $35 billion annually to import food that is in canned, bagged, bottled, and other packaged formats?

While there are a couple of reasons for this, one thing is clear: Africa’s agribusiness value chain is too focused on production. Our farmers just keep trying to grow more and more food.

As a result, opportunities to add value and increase profit margins through processing, packaging, branding, and marketing of local foods are being ignored.

This is why most of Africa’s food products are sold as commodities. Our farmers produce tomatoes in abundance but we import and stock branded tomato paste, purees, and ketchup on supermarket shelves. We export grains and cocoa beans, and then import branded breakfast cereals and chocolate.

Currently, while the continent has millions of farmers, there are only a handful of local companies in Africa that process, package, and brand food products that can compete with international brands on supermarket shelves.

Thankfully, this wide (and growing) gap in the market is attracting smart entrepreneurs.

In Tanzania, Jennifer Bash is the brain behind Alaska Tanzania Industries. The company packages, brands and distributes a range of products, including eggs, rice, processed maize flour, and sunflower oil to local supermarkets.

In Zambia, Monica Musonda became the first female indigenous player in the noodle business. After working for the Dangote Group in Nigeria, she returned to her native country to start Java Foods. Today, the company produces a range of noodle and breakfast cereal products made from local ingredients.

And in Senegal, former chef Pierre Thiam is proving that local African foods can be branded for global appeal. His brand, Yolélé, packages fonio (a local cereal) into shelf-ready formats targeted at the US market. He struck a deal with Whole Foods to distribute the products across the USA.

With a population of over a billion people that is fast-urbanizing and projected to double in size by 2050, the tastes and preferences of the African consumer are changing.

When it comes to food, people are paying more attention to quality, packaging, brand, nutritional value, shelf life, convenience, and availability.

And it is those entrepreneurs who can look beyond the production stage and add more value to locally-produced food who will be the big winners in this decade.

2. Cybersecurity & Data storage


The Samrand data center facility in Johannesburg, South Africa (c: Africa Data Centres)

Every year, African businesses lose more than $3.5 billion to hackers and cybersecurity breaches.

Cybersecurity is fast becoming one of the key emerging business opportunities in Africa because of the potential damages and losses that are at stake.

Individuals and organizations of all sizes are being targeted. The attacks range from simple email scams to large-scale theft of customer data, fraud, ransomware, espionage, critical infrastructure sabotage, and other malicious activities.

And more threats are emerging every day.

According to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, up to 96% of cybersecurity incidents in Africa go unreported or unresolved — this means that cyber threats on the continent are likely much worse than the official statistics.

Worse still, Africa doesn’t have enough specialists to defend itself from the growing threats. The continent currently has a gap of over 100,000 certified cybersecurity professionals.

Interestingly, a growing number of entrepreneurs on the continent are rising to the challenge.

Last year, 26-year-old Charlotte N’Guessan became the first-ever woman to win the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering’s prestigious Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.

The tech entrepreneur from Côte D’Ivoire is the brain behind BACE API, a software that uses facial recognition and artificial intelligence to verify identities remotely. The solution is targeted at financial institutions and other industries that rely on identity verification to reduce cybersecurity risks.

The market for data storage services is also growing very fast in Africa.

In fact, it’s being called “the world’s next data gold rush.”

Industry experts project the size of Africa’s data centre market could reach $3 billion by 2025, growing at a 12% compound rate. In the last five years, major global cloud service providers such as AWS, Microsoft, and Huawei have been making inroads into Africa.

Recently, a company owned by Zimbabwe telecoms billionaire Strive Masiyiwa raised $300 million to build and expand data centers in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.

Also, Rack Centre, a data storage company in Nigeria that serves the West African market, has raised $250 million from a London-based private equity firm.

The demand for local data storage capacity in Africa is rising in line with its rapid population growth, urbanization, smartphone use, and internet penetration.

As the continent goes digital, uses more data, and adopts cloud computing as well as co-location, local caching, and centralized networking capabilities, the demand for local data storage will continue to go through the roof.

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Read the full list at the link below:

https://www.smallstarter.com/browse-ideas/roadmap-11-big-business-opportunities-in-africa-2021-and-beyond/

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I got this from someone who read the article:

"very interesting
but I was surprised that tourism was not included on the list. So my question, have you looked deeply into the tourism industry and the economic opportunities?"

MY RESPONSE:

Tourism remains a multi-billion-dollar opportunity for the African continent. However, tourism didn't make the list for 2021 due to the effects of COVID-19 on the industry. It's a wait-and-watch situation right now for tourism in many African countries. I guess 2021 might just be a year of recovery for the industry.

Currently, all the industries connected to the tourism industry are bleeding: airlines, hotels, resorts, travel agencies, etc.

However, once the travel industry recovers and the virus (and the fear of it) is gone, Africa remains the biggest potential source and destination for tourists over the next 30 years.

New Question:

"Why are crypto-currencies and Forex not on the list?"

RESPONSE:

Trading in crypto-currencies and Forex are regarded as "speculative investments". Unlike a business that requires an entrepreneur to create value in the form of a product or service that people want to pay for, speculation is only a bet that creates no real value in the market.

Due to their high volatility, crypto and Forex are high-risk investments. That's why the people who teach how to trade crypto and Forex actually make more money than people who actually trade them.

Please be wise.

Don't forget to check out the list of business opportunities at: https://www.smallstarter.com/browse-ideas/roadmap-11-big-business-opportunities-in-africa-2021-and-beyond/

The conversations are still going on!

What is your favourite business opportunity on the list?



Read the full list at this link:

https://www.smallstarter.com/browse-ideas/roadmap-11-big-business-opportunities-in-africa-2021-and-beyond/