- Can you share some insights on Dubai-Africa trade ties and the key factors that are driving bilateral trade at the moment?
Dubai and Africa have long enjoyed a rich history of deep-rooted commerce and trade ties and the relationship keeps growing stronger. It has seen significant growth and diversification in recent decades and continues to diversify and grow through the 2020s.
The reasons for this are many: Dubai’s strategic location and global connectivity, coupled with its outstanding infrastructure and favorable regulatory environment, create a perfect hub for trade, services, and transportation that African countries can leverage to achieve global growth. As a fast-growing urban economy, Dubai can share valuable expertise across areas such as logistics and retail, as well as providing access to financial support and investment opportunities for African businesses and entrepreneurs. In short, Dubai holds the key to unlocking Africa’s vast economic potential.
Similarly, many African nations are rapidly emerging as growth markets for Dubai businesses, as the continent’s young and rapidly urbanizing population make it an attractive destination for Dubai businesses to export consumer products. New opportunities for trade, investment, and commerce are emerging all over the continent. This growth is also attributed to improvements in the business environment and the African Continental Free Trade Area, which unites 54 nations into the world’s largest trading bloc.
- How is Dubai Chambers, through its international offices in Africa, strengthening and expanding Dubai-Africa trade corridors and attracting African companies to Dubai?
Dubai Chambers is helping the business communities in both markets to explore bilateral opportunities for trade and investment by building connections between the two business communities, promoting the benefits of Dubai’s business environment, and providing support, advice, expertise and resources to help businesses from both regions expand to the other.
One of the key pillars of this work is the “New Horizons” trade mission series: a programme of roadshows and events designed to help Dubai-based businesses expand into Africa. In October and November 2023, Dubai International Chamber organized trade missions to 11 destinations in 2023 and conducted over 1,800 B2B meetings to identify opportunities for cross-border collaboration and help establish and build networks and partnerships between business communities.
All of this is underpinned by Dubai Chambers’ network of international representative offices across Africa which foster closer cooperation and enhance trading volumes and investment flows between Dubai and Africa. There are now seven offices on the continent, in Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria.
- What are the factors, market trends and advantages that are driving African FMCG and food manufacturers to set up in Dubai and leverage the emirate as a trade hub?
There are several factors that make Dubai an ideal partner for African FMCG businesses looking to expand overseas: our location puts us geographically in an optimum position to act as a strategic hub for inbound and onward trade across the world, both east and west, and we have the international transport links and robust infrastructure to fully take advantage of this and facilitate exports and business growth, both into the Gulf region and beyond.
In addition, Dubai has an ecosystem that champions and facilitates innovation, with supportive trade policies and a finance industry primed for investment in businesses of all sizes, all of which can fuel and accelerate success for African FMCG businesses.
We’ve been working hard to promote these factors that make Dubai the perfect gateway for companies from around the world to access emerging markets, with a particular focus on food manufacturing and agribusiness.
We have held a couple of events in the last few years that have played a key role in attracting new African memberships. These events create a platform for African companies to connect with their counterparts in Dubai and explore business prospects in the Emirate. This includes Expand North Star, one of the world’s biggest gatherings for startups and investors, held in October 2023, which included ‘Africa Fast 100’ – a unique showcase that brought together 100 leading startups from the continent for conferences, networking, and pitches.
- How many FMCG companies and African companies are registered members of Dubai Chamber and have you seen an increase in membership in these categories in recent years?
There’s been significant growth in the number of active members of Dubai Chambers from Africa in recent years, with an increase of almost 50% from the end of 2022 to early 2024, from 15,195 to 22,365. Companies in the FMCG sector are one of the largest groups within this, with 6,651 active members as of the beginning of 2024, making up around a third of African member companies, up from 5,350 at the end of 2022.
- How is Dubai Chambers supporting the ambitions of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), specifically when it comes to expanding trade corridors and elevating Dubai’s position as a preferred hub for FMCG companies?
The Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) aims to double the size of the Dubai economy by 2033 and increase foreign trade in goods and services, so this is a core focus for us at Dubai Chambers.
We have a strong emphasis on diversifying our trade portfolio, so Africa and FMCG are both key priorities in this endeavor. We are doing this by strengthening bilateral economic ties and tapping into investment opportunities across different growth sectors, such as those of the African nations with their diverse economies and new opportunities for trade, investment, and commerce emerging all over the continent.
Dubai makes an excellent hub for FMCG companies from all over the world looking for expansion into overseas markets, with our optimal geographical location for reaching both east and west, the advanced transport connections, and our supportive business ecosystem.
The seven new offices Dubai International Chambers has opened across Africa are part of our ‘Dubai Global’ initiative, which aims to establish a powerful global network of 50 offices across five continents by 2030.
These offices help develop stronger ties between the Dubai and overseas business communities and assist companies with their entry into the Dubai market. Through the offices and our other initiatives, we’re promoting the benefits of Dubai as a business hub and providing resources to companies to assist expansion, such as market intelligence and business matching. The office network also builds ties with local chambers of commerce and industry associations to foster business relationships and promote trade.