Consumer goods industries are benefiting from a boom in African consumer expenditure. For example, in the food industry, food consumption has risen significantly in countries in diverse regions across the African continent. This increase in consumption is also having knock-on effects in secondary industries like food packaging. For instance, the food packaging sector now accounts for 80% of the flexible packaging market in the Middle East and North Africa. In 2011, imports for plastic packaging machinery and equipment grew by 75% to R1,6bn in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
