Audio: West Africa Examined as Potential Growth Market for U.S. Red Meat

Emerging markets were a hot topic at the recent USMEF board of directors meeting in Kansas City, as USMEF members learned about potential opportunities for U.S. beef, pork and lamb in regions such as Latin America, Central and Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

With a large population and rapid economic growth, another region being examined for its export potential is West Africa – including countries such as Angola, Benin, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo. Dan Halstrom, USMEF senior vice president for marketing and communications, discusses a new USMEF initiative that seeks to identify opportunities for U.S. red meat products in these destinations. Reflecting on his recent visit to the region, Halstrom says most imported beef and pork is currently sold in traditional wet markets. But he sees potential for rapid growth in modern retail, as well as in the hotel, restaurant and institutional (HRI) sectors.

TRANSCRIPT:

Joe Schuele: In this U.S. Meat Export Federation report, Dan Halstrom, USMEF senior vice president for marketing and communications, discusses a new USMEF initiative that seeks to identify opportunities for U.S. beef, pork and lamb products in West Africa. The region was selected because of its large population and rapid economic growth.

Dan Halstrom: The countries that are part of this project are; Angola, Benin, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo. So you have over 300 million people in this region of Africa and you also have dramatic population growth and dramatic GDP/economic growth. Averaging between 5 and 8% growth those are numbers from last year. So what’s driving this? In a lot of cases it is natural resources; gold, diamonds, natural gas, offshore oil drilling, they’re resource rich but expertise and manufacturing poor.

Joe Schuele: Halstrom says domestic meat production in the region cannot keep up with the growing demand and he sees rapid growth coming to the modern supermarket and restaurant sectors.

Dan Halstrom: They do have domestic industry but it’s small, it’s antiquated, the potential is mind boggling, I was in Ghana three weeks ago and it was very apparent to me that if these economies continue to grow they are going to be almost totally dependent upon imports. Most of what’s going in on the imported beef and pork side are variety meats; beef feet, sinews, snouts, lips, ears, tripe, masks, this sort of thing - and the vast majority is going into traditional wet markets. Modern retail makes up such a small portion of this region today - but, it’s there. Everyone was very upbeat about the future of retail and HRI development down the road.

Joe Schuele: For more on this and other trade issues please visit USMEF.org. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Joe Schuele.