Chinese firms chase Africa’s consumers as resource investments plunge 40%

Chinese business dealings in Africa, once dominated by state-owned enterprises, are now increasingly shifting toward consumer products from the private sector.

While Africa’s faster-growing economies, such as Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, see annual growth rates of 4.8%, 6.4% and 5.8%, respectively, the GDP of the overall continent’s 50-plus countries is 4.1%. That is according to IMF’s economic outlook report last month.

Chinese investments in Africa’s resource-intensive sectors have declined by roughly 40% since their 2015 peak, amid weaker returns and falling construction revenues in traditional commodity industries, according to Rhodium Group China Cross-Border Monitor released on Nov. 18 this year.

Meanwhile, China’s exports to Africa have surged by 28% year-on-year over the first three quarters of 2025, following a 57% increase from 2020 to 2024, the report said. Most of those products are higher-value-added manufactured goods such as electronics, plastics and textiles.

“In the early days, Chinese companies that went over were doing a lot more infrastructure, and they were also doing a lot of the natural minerals mining,” said Joe Ngai, chairman of McKinsey Greater China.

“In the last few years, I think people are trying to think of the African consumer market,” he said. But he cautioned that market fragmentation and thin margins can make these ventures difficult. 

The shift comes as the first G20 summit ever held on the continent kicked off over the weekend in South Africa. While the U.S. only sent its acting ambassador, Chinese Premier Li Qiang represented Beijing, creating more high-level opportunities for business discussions.

In contrast to prior years when people in China didn’t know much about what was happening in Africa, today there are “more business trips, sending more employees overseas. It just feels more involved,” said Heather Li, founder and China-Africa consultant at The Dot Connector. She noted that, increasingly, larger Chinese companies are sending decision-makers to Africa to explore specific market opportunities.

Due to power shortages in West Africa, Li said Chinese solar products are welcomed there, while medical supplies, along with baby and household products, are also popular across the continent.

Already, Chinese smartphone company Transsion has built its business in Africa over the years, while telecoms giant Huawei and household appliance company Midea have also expanded in Africa.

In July, Chinese state media reported that the Midea group signed an agreement with the Confederation of African Football, which will increase investments in the area. The company has already built factories in Egypt and has plans for more.

The evolving landscape is evident not only in investment data but also in experiences shared by Chinese entrepreneurs online.

On social media platforms like Xiaohongshu and Bilibili, posts over the past year portray Africa as an emerging destination for smaller, agile business ventures spanning dropshipping and e-commerce, as well as manufacturing and retail tied to Chinese supply chains.

One earphone and data-cable trader described relocating from China to Nigeria and his search for African partners, while another social media account documented the progress of a business owner’s bubble tea business in Kenya. The social media posts also show entrepreneurs selling slippers, small appliances, furniture, and press-on nails.

Joseph Keshi, a Nigerian-born real estate investor and business strategist who has worked closely with Chinese entrepreneurs, said some of them earned as much as six-figure U.S. dollars in their first year. 

While Li cautioned that some might be exaggerating on social media, she noted that the exposure might amplify Chinese awareness of the opportunities in Africa.

Euromonitor data affirmed the trend is happening on a larger scale — highlighting how many Chinese ventures in Africa sell basic consumer goods such as diapers, household items, packaged sauces and snacks.

“With a rapidly urbanizing, youthful, and increasingly connected population, household spending across the continent is projected to exceed US$2 trillion by 2030,” Christy Tawii, regional insight manager at Euromonitor International, said in a statement.

She also pointed to the rise of e-commerce platforms such as Chinese Supermarket, which expand the reach of Asian and Chinese brands to African households. 

Many of these entrepreneurs are optimistic that greater use of the Chinese yuan in Africa could lower transaction risks and deepen commercial ties. Currently, the Chinese yuan is used in “30% of trade invoicing,” according to Rhodium’s report.

But Rhodium Group and Atlantic Council say there’s a “structural ceiling” to increased use of the Chinese yuan, citing China’s trade surplus with most of its African partners and the global reliance on the U.S. dollar. 

The rise of Chinese consumer businesses’ interest in Africa comes as profit margins narrow at home due to slowing economic growth and intense competition.

Selling to Africa’s consumers also becomes more attractive to Chinese companies as they face trade barriers with the U.S. and Europe, Rhodium Group pointed out. The analysts laid out a “stagnation scenario” in which Chinese exports increasingly flow to regions such as Africa if China fails to resolve its overcapacity issues and faces further restrictions in Europe.

While cheap imports benefit consumers, in Africa as in other parts of the world, a surge of low-cost exports can undermine local manufacturing and deepen trade imbalances. 

“It’ll be necessary to see Africa as not just a consumer market, but as a market that produces the goods that the continent itself will consume,” said Ebipere Clark, visiting fellow and consultant at the African Policy Research Institute.

Some Chinese companies are already starting to produce locally.

“There is more push for industrialization in Africa,” The Dot Connector’s Li said. “I was involved in some consulting projects to attract Chinese light industries to move the manufacturing in Africa, and they also have priority access to U.S. and Europe markets.”

Guangzhou-based trading company Sunda International sells a range of products from agricultural tools to daily consumer goods, and claims to have ramped up its construction of more than 20 production centers in Africa over the last decade.

Sunda reportedly earns up to $450 million annually by supplying Africa’s necessity markets such as baby diapers and sanitary pads.

Several of Sunda’s listed factories are in Zambia. That’s where Premier Li last week signed a $1.4 billion agreement to modernize a railway linking the country to the Indian Ocean with the aim of significantly expanding freight volumes.