Transforming Africa’s Food Systems: How Food Brands Can Lead the Way

In 2023, the Boston Consulting Group and Mastercard Foundation conducted an in-depth study to explore strategies for scaling African food brands. Surveying 2,300 consumers and 20+ food enterprises across eight African countries, the study uncovered key insights into consumer preferences and the challenges faced by local food MSMEs. From a consumer perspective, price, quality and safety were identified as the top purchasing factors along with brand reputation. The study also revealed that most consumers favored local brands from their own country, yet only a minority had tried food products from other African nations primarily due to lack of awareness or access.

From the perspective of African food companies—over 90% of which are micro, small, or medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)— the study highlights the need to scale up in order to reduce operational costs and meet the purchasing criteria of African consumers. Innovative approaches such as creating shared economies of scale though platforms providing access to shared services —in areas such as branding and packaging for example —were identified as solutions.