IDM ¦ Markets
Trends in the African
dairy market
Market Report
Author: Brian McNulty and Associates, a market research consultancy focused on dairy markets in Africa and the
Middle East recently published: The African Dairy Market: Companies, Products, Markets. Building on over twenty
years’ experience travelling in and researching African dairy markets, the report presents a unique insight into the
development of dairy markets in Africa. Here Brian presents some of the top level findings.
Further information from info@bmna.ie, and https://www.bmna.ie/publications
In 2019 Africa imported 2.1 million
tonnes of dairy products including
fat filled milk powder (FFMP) and infant
milk formula (IMF) worth some
€4.8 billion. The chart below shows a
breakdown of these imports by product,
in both volume and value terms. Note
data is based on mirrored imports (i.e. exports
to Africa from the rest of the world)
from Global Trade Tracker and excludes
intra Africa trade.
Whole milk powder (WMP) – is of
course Africa’s largest dairy import due to
its versatility. Essentially WMP is milk dried
mainly in milk surplus producing countries,
for preservation and to facilitate transport
mainly to milk deficit regions such as Africa.
In African markets it is reconstituted by industry,
by artisan processors and in the home
into dairy products such as milk beverages
and yoghurt. It is also used as a source of
fat and non-fat milk solids in confectionery
and baked goods. In 2019 WMP accounted
for 24% of African dairy imports in volume
terms and 29% in value terms. FFMP, increasingly
popular as a low cost substitute
Africa: Dairy Imports by Product 2019
Concentrated
5%
Cheese
6%
Whey
6%
Volume
for WMP accounted for 22% of volume and
18% of value, while skim milk powder (SMP)
accounted for 16% of volume and 14% of
value. Altogether some 1.3 million tonnes
of WMP, FFMP and SMP were imported in
2019 – of which 504k tonnes of WMP, 470k
tonnes of FFMP and 335k tonnes of SMP. Source: BMNA, Global Trade Tracker
FFMP
22%
WMP
24%
SMP
16%
Milk
12%
IMF
4%
Butter
4%
Fermented
1%
FFMP
WMP
SMP
Milk
Whey
Cheese
Concentrated
IMF
Butter
Fermented
Africa: Dairy Imports by Product 2019
28 · July/August 2021 ¦ international-dairy.com
/publications
/international-dairy.com
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