Our
Purpose

Connecting consumers with quality products and brands across the African continent every day.

Our strategic initiatives allow us to deliver on our purpose and drive sustainable growth:

Geographic expansion

Expand presence into new key and strategic markets, and meet principal cluster needs through coverage of economic markets

Multi-market Aggregation

Provide a single partner for delivery of products and services into multiple markets, as well as reduce principal risk and streamline management control

Capability expansion

Expand capabilities to include contract packaging, brand activation and promotion, sourcing and procurement, as well as brand partnerships

Category expansion

Expanding our source of growth through category optimisation and expansion to ensure a balanced portfolio

Strategic Partner

Focused principal engagement to become the best-in-class distributor and strategic partner – enabling technology and assessing market intelligence by investing in the transition from a transactional relationship to a strategic partnership

One Imperial

Develop into an integrated marketing, sales and distribution market access business under the One Imperial brand, ensuring standardisation across businesses and territories

Our consumer market
in context

Africa is home to roughly 1.2 billion consumers today, projected to increase to 1.7 billion by 2030. It is one of the fastest-growing consumer markets in the world with household consumption increasing even faster than its gross domestic product (GDP) in recent years.

Africa’s emerging economies present exciting opportunities for expansion in retail and distribution with consumer expenditure on the continent growing at a compound annual rate of 3.9 percent since 2010 and reaching $1.4 trillion in 2015.

This figure is expected to reach $2.1 trillion by 2025, and $2.5 trillion by 2030 due to increasing affluence, population growth, urbanisation rates, and rapid spread of access to the internet and mobile phones on the continent. By 2030, the largest consumer markets will include Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa.

Imperial Consumer Market Access
overview

Despite many challenges, we are well positioned for growth within the consumer market access industry and have a best-in-class distribution model with a fragmented competitor landscape.

We offer our principals a very attractive solution for trading in Africa, through both our local relevance and our financial stability. This, togeher with our increased focus on corporate governance and compliance, further enhances our service offering.

A full, integrated route-to-market solution for our principals encompassing Transportation, Warehousing, Distribution, and Supply Chain Management

We purchase stock, take full responsibility, and sell on behalf of our principals

Our footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa encompasses South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Ghana

Market Access Consumer

Why choose us?

Deep understanding of brand owners’ aspirations in Africa

Focused strategy in terms of industries, capabilities, and geography to target

Proven track record of distributorships in Southern and West Africa

Asset right focus (high ROIC and cash flow generation)

Focus on Healthcare and Consumer (less cyclical and more defensive)

A respected, global brand

High governance and compliance standards

Ability to de-risk business in Africa for principals

Flexible, quick to react and adapt

Why invest in Africa?

  • African consumerisation is leading to increased spending power
  • Development and growth of consumer industries across the continent
  • Growth in e-commerce - requiring new supply chain thinking and tailored logistics solutions
  • Widening of product categories - general merchandise, appliances, temp-controlled and more
  • Geographical expansion will open further opportunities – new regions and categories
  • Capability expansion – contract operations, sourcing, and procurement
  • Market Access Consumer is well-positioned to capitalise on the growth in informal retail
  • Access to Imperial’s people, technology, processes, and capital
  • Cross selling of volumes within Imperial
More about our solution Enquire now

Consumer Market Access
industry insights

Key characteristics

  • Large market, easily accessible to consumers
  • Essential lifeblood of the economy
  • 1.2 billion consumers today; 1.7 billion by 2030
  • One of the fastest growing consumer markets in the world
  • Brand conscious and brand loyal consumers
  • The lion’s share of consumer spending takes place in informal trade
  • Affordability and familiarity are important when choosing a product
  • Globalisation of brands
  • International retailers' expansion into African markets

Industry growth drivers

Urbanisation

Population & demographics

Growth of middle & upper classes

ICTs & formal markets

Major market trends

  • Multinational companies entering the less developed African market
  • Hub and Spoke distribution models allow economies of scale and effective local market coverage
  • Investment in market research to target consumer segments with the greatest potential to tailor marketing and distribution

Principals’ needs

Complete route-to-market solutions

Reliable distribution and increased access to informal markets

Corporate governance and compliance to reduce the risk of trading in Africa

Improved reach and numeric distribution in outlying areas

Data rich feedback and development

*According to Accenture study of the total Consumer Goods industry in Africa

Consumer Market Access
industry insights

Urbanisation

  • Urbanisation will bring huge social, economic, and environmental transformations
  • Urban population in Africa will increase to 56% in 2050 from 35% in 2010

Population and demographics

  • Africa’s young population is expected to drive consumption and economic growth in the coming decades
  • Median age is expected to increase to 25.4 years in 2050

Growth of middle and upper classes

  • In the next few years, more than half of all African households are expected to have discretionary income
  • Creation of an “upper class” is emerging in certain African countries

ICTs and formal markets

  • Two out of three Africans now have internet access, and it is the fastest-growing mobile telecom market in the world
  • The spread of mobile phones has increased the usage of bank accounts

E-commerce

  • The digital age is increasingly disrupting the retail industry globally
  • Online shopping may offer even greater value for those living outside the big cities where the choice of goods available may be limited

Brand recognition and importance

  • Brand recognition is highly important to African buyers, who often refer to products by an associated brand name
  • Multinationals providing recognisable international brands continue to report strong profitability in their African investments
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