4 | The Lion King
N
igeria’s new mega-
shopping malls are the fad
in town. Hosting a combi-
nation of cinemas, supermarkets,
fashion shops, it is the place
for Nigeria’s new and aspiring
middle class to window-shop,
shop, or just meet to catch up
on the latest social trends and
business opportunities.
The malls are usually filled to
the brim and on weekends,
the 1000 car parking lot hardly
has a decent parking space.
But Nigeria’s mega malls have
not always been around. It is a
phenomenon that has taken root
in just the last decade. Its rise,
however, says a lot about the
rise of Nigeria’s emerging middle
class and their rising purchasing
power.
Analysts estimate that the
Nigerian consumer market has
attracted more than N200 billion
in the last two years alone as the
success of the earlier shopping
malls drive new investments in
new malls.
The expansion in retail stores is
however not restricted to Nigeria.
Theme Story
Consumer Market,
The Future?
By Ola Babs-Olugbemi
Across Africa, the mega mall
craze is taking hold. All the
major global retail brands now
see Africa as the next economic
frontier. McKinsey’s 2010 report
on the emerging African conti-
nent estimates that Africa’s
consumer-facing industries will
grow by $400 billion by 2020.
McKinsey notes that Africa’s
consumer industry is the single
biggest opportunity on the
continent.
Giving an insight on the factors
shaping the emergence of
Africa’s consumer class, McKin-
sey cites Africa’s rising popula-
tion, “the fastest growing
and youngest in the world,”
enhanced by its concentration
in urban areas.
The McKinsey Report describes
the new Africa consumer as
having a smaller family with
better education, has a higher
income and is digitally savvy.”
Africa’s above global average
economic growth has led to the
emergence of this high income
consumer class creating a set of
impressive economic data that
is attracting major businesses
into the continent. Foreign direct
investment (FDI) into Africa has
increased from a paltry $9 billion
in 2000 to a high of $62 billion in
2008 but slipped to $56 billion in
2013.
Africa’s collective GDP was
$1.6 trillion in 2008 which was
about the same size of Brazil’s
GDP in 2008 and $2 trillion in
2012. The combined consumer
spending for Africa in 2008 was
$860 billion. Signs of increasing
wealth are seen in the number
of new mobile phone users on
the continent which was 316
million as of 2008 and with 20
African companies making
revenues in excess of $3 billion
annually while increasing urban-
ization has seen a minimum of
52 African cities with a popula-
tion of not less than one million.
The real attraction, however, is in
Africa’s future potential. McKin-
sey estimates that by 2020,
Africa’s GDP would be $2.6
trillion, while consumer spend-
ing will average $1.4 trillion. The
industries that will drive Africa’s
