Continuing db's exploration of the growth potential of African markets, Sarah Neish delves into how wine sales are changing in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
As db recently reported, Sub-Saharan Africa represents one of the most compelling long-term growth opportunities in drinks with a young, fast-growing and rapidly urbanising population happy to spend out on "aspirational" beverages. Booming categories include RTDs and spirits, with Cognac, Tequila and whiskey (both Indian and Irish) all on the rise.
But while at first glance wine may seem like a less fruitful opportunity compared with spirits (in terms of volumes sold), it's definitely worth noting that across Africa locally-made products dominate, accounting for 97% of beer volumes in 2025, 71% of cider, 80% of spirits and 87% of RTDs (data from IWSR).
For wine, local products made up just 59% of volume sales last year, suggesting there may be more space for international wine producers to eke out a place for themselves in African markets than for international spirits producers to do the same. In other words, wine operators may not sell huge quantities there, but they may have the chance to 'own' their category in a way ...