10 Business Opportunities in Africa That Will Create More Millionaires in 2015

‘The best place to find gold is to look where it has
been found before.’ The opportunities in this article
have created some of the biggest successes Africa has
ever seen. If you want to increase your chances of
building a successful business in 2015, these
opportunities could make your dream come true.
Let’s meet them…
1. Media and Entertainment
Africa’s film industry has become a global and cultural
phenomenon that enjoys a huge following within and outside the
continent.
The industry serves an audience that’s hungry for African stories
of love, drama, intrigue, comedy, redemption, action and more. It’s
no surprise that Africa’s film industry is currently the third largest
in the world behind Hollywood and India’s “Bollywood”.
' 30 Days in Atlanta ' is a Nigerian romantic comedy film that
was released in late 2014. Africa releases hundreds of films every
year but this one has totally changed the game. Just seven weeks
after its release, ’ 30 Days in Atlanta ’ grossed over $500,000 !
It’s the largest revenues ever made by a single African movie! This
is great news for the continent and a sign of more high-grossing
blockbusters to come!
It’s not just the Africa’s film industry that’s on the rise. African
music has become hot cakes too! From Nigeria to South Africa,
there’s a wave of raw and promising music talents that is
sweeping across the continent. 2015 will surely be an interesting
year for Africa’s entertainment industry!
2. Food & Agribusiness
The opportunities in Africa’s food and agribusiness space remain
huge and will not go out of fashion anytime soon. With over one
billion people to feed, Africa’s food and agribusiness market is a
multi-billion dollar opportunity for entrepreneurs who know where
to look.
Food production is still a huge and breathtaking opportunity.
Grains, milk and all sorts of raw and semi-processed agro
products are still imported into Africa even though the continent
has an enormous capacity to produce these. Entrepreneurs who
can produce food products locally could reap very huge rewards.
The opportunities in food and agribusiness cover several different
products across the value chain. In 2015, I expect that several
African entrepreneurs will make a fortune in this industry. The
possibilities are endless and largely unexplored.
Interested? Check out some of the exciting opportunities in Africa’s
food and agribusiness space on our Agribusiness and Food Page .
3. Retail
Africa’s retail market is a multi-billion dollar business
opportunity. In addition to its over 1 billion population,
more Africans are buying stuff due to their growing
economies, rising middle class and rapid
urbanization.
Africa’s retail market is going through a monumental
shift. Retail is gradually moving away from informal
trading in open markets to organized retail in
shopping malls and online stores. Africa’s
homegrown supermarket chains like Shoprite, Game,
Woolworths and Nakumatt are entering more
countries and are spreading fast across the continent.
(photo credit: bdlive.co.za)
The growth in Africa’s online retail market is more breathtaking.
Jumia , one of Africa’s fastest growing online retail businesses, is
now worth more than $500 million . With a presence in several
African countries including Egypt, Cote D’Ivoire and Nigeria, Jumia
is now regarded as the “Amazon of Africa.”
Despite the boom in online retail in Africa, this segment currently
makes up less than 5 percent of the continent’s entire retail
market. There’s still a lot of room in this space to serve the African
market and a lot of money will be made in the process.
Seizing Africa’s Retail Opportunities (PDF) is a detailed report that
takes an interesting look at the opportunities in Africa’s retail
industry. According to the report, Rwanda, Nigeria, Namibia,
Tanzania and Gabon currently provide the biggest retail
opportunities in Africa.
4. Fashion & Beauty
Africa’s fashion and beauty market is developing at an impressive
rate. The continent’s overwhelmingly young population provides a
ready market for trendy fashion. All kinds of apparel, including
locally-made fabrics and imported designer labels have become
hot-selling products across Africa’s rapidly expanding urban
areas.
Africa has hundreds of rising stars who are building successful
businesses in the fashion and beauty industry. I’ll share a few
interesting examples with you.
Suzie Wokabi is one of Africa’s leading entrepreneurs breaking into
the beauty and personal care market, a sector that is dominated by
international giants like Unilever, Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal and
Mary Kay. Suzie Beauty , the cosmetic business she started
about 7 years ago in Kenya, has become hugely successful.
Kunmi Otitoju is another inspiring entrepreneur who has built a
successful business with her luxury label, Minku . Her young
business makes high-quality leather bags designed with Aso-oke
fabric, a hand-loomed cloth woven by Nigeria’s Yoruba people.
Her unique designs have become a major hit in high end stores in
Nigeria. (photo credit: minku.com)
The list of promising African entrepreneurs who are building
successful businesses in the fashion industry is quite impressive.
This would be an interesting industry to watch in 2015.
5. Real Estate
The demand for both residential and commercial real
estate continues to grow across Africa. However,
there is still a huge accommodation shortage.
In countries like Nigeria, for example, over 16 million
new houses need to be built to solve Nigeria’s serious
housing problem. The estimated cost of providing
these homes stands at a whopping $350 billion!
The opportunities in Africa’s real estate market include
investing in land and real estate (properties) to take
advantage of fast rising property prices. There is also
lucrative potential in developing middle and low-
income housing and office space for sale, lease or rent. (photo
credit: mnn.com)
If you’d like to take a closer look at the opportunities in the African
real estate market, you should check out this article: The Hottest
Property Market in the World - How to Invest and Make Money in
Real Estate in Africa.
6. Internet & Tech
Africa’s Internet & Tech space will be a joy to watch in 2015. Tech
hubs and incubators are springing up across the continent from
Accra (Ghana) to Lagos (Nigeria), Jo’burg (South Africa) and
Nairobi (Kenya). These hubs have become Africa’s “Silicon Valley”
and continue to produce the best tech innovators and
entrepreneurs Africa has ever seen.
Last year, the acquisition of Saya , a mobile messaging phone app
developed by two young entrepreneurs from Ghana, made the
headlines. This simple app for feature phones, which was created
in 2011, started to replace SMS texting and became an instant hit
in West Africa and even in faraway India!
Saya is just one of several success stories in Africa’s internet and
tech industry. African entrepreneurs are using the internet and
technology to solve problems and challenges on the continent.
From taxi services to mobile payment systems and motorbike
delivery services, African tech startups are buzzing with creativity
and promise.
If you’d like to see more interesting stuff on African tech startups,
check out this CNN article: 10 African startups that rocked 2014 .
7. The Green Revolution
Around the world, the appetite for green and eco-friendly
products and services is growing quite rapidly. Due to the
threats of climate change, any solution that preserves the
natural environment, reduces waste and pollution, and
promotes reuse and recycling have become huge business
opportunities.
Several African entrepreneurs and startups are already riding
the wave of this opportunity and are becoming hugely
successful.
In Ethiopia, Bethlehem Alemu’s Solerebels has become the
world’s first truly eco-friendly footwear brand. This hugely
successful business makes footwear from recycled waste material
and sells its footwear products to customers in North America,
Europe and as far as Japan.
There’s also Thato Kgatlhanye (pictured), founder of Repurpose
Schoolbags which makes eco-friendly bags from up-cycled plastic
shopping bags. And there’s also Patrick Ngowi , the Tanzanian
entrepreneur who has built a multi-million dollar business from
solar power. Biogas production from organic waste is also another
growing opportunity in Africa. (photo credit:
africancelebs.com)
The Green Revolution will definitely be an interesting space to
watch in 2015!
8. Building and Construction Supplies
Africa is going through a construction boom, an opportunity that
will certainly create a lot of wealth for entrepreneurs on the
continent.
It’s no surprise that Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is heavily
invested in the cement business. Cement is one of the most
important materials for building and construction work – houses,
buildings, roads, bridges etc. Africa used to spend billions of
dollars to import cement. But not anymore. Dangote and other
cement producers like Lafarge are spreading fast across the
continent.
Cement is just one example of several building and construction
supplies that are growing in demand across Africa. The demand
for steel is another multi-billion dollar business opportunity that’s
probably bigger than cement. Timber (wood), roofing materials,
glass, paints, plumbing and electrical supplies are other products
that are enjoying a high demand due to the construction boom
that’s happening across the continent.
If you’d like to read more about the opportunities in this industry,
check out this article: Building and Construction materials – 9 Hot
selling products that can make you money in Africa.
9. Financial services
Like in other developing regions of the world, the banking,
payment systems and overall financial services industry in
Africa is one of the least developed in the world.
More than 50 percent of Africans still don’t have access to
formal financial services and a huge number of transactions
are still done in cash.
Africa presents a unique opportunity to make money in its
financial services market. Entrepreneurs who can provide
simple, easy and convenient solutions will be well rewarded.
One interesting startup to watch in this space in 2015 is Nigeria’s
SimplePay. This platform, which provides payment solutions to
online merchants in Nigeria has already attracted over $300,000 in
investments and plans to raise up to $10 million this year. If all
goes well, SimplePay could become the PayPal of Nigeria, and
could make its young founder a millionaire! (photo credit:
biztechafrica.com)
10.    Investment
With slow economic growth in North America and Europe, more
investment is pouring into fast emerging regions like Africa. In
search for higher returns, more investors are now looking to invest
in Africa. Whether you plan to funnel funds into Africa’s stock
markets or invest directly in African startups, the potential for high
reward has never looked better.
Towards the end of last year, a Nigerian billionaire investor, Tony
Elumelu , committed to invest $100 million in African startups and
entrepreneurs over the next 10 years. This is just one of several
ambitious investment initiatives that will create tremendous
opportunities and wealth for entrepreneurs who can exploit them.
One interesting trend I’ve noticed is the growing number of venture
capital firms and startup funding platforms that are dedicated to
the African investment market. More of these platforms will open
shop in 2015. There’s never been a better time to invest in Africa’s
future!