Africa's consumer market, Gabon's palm oil revolution plans and Comoros goes geothermal [Business Africa]

Consumer champions

Whether it’s buying goods on the road or getting good deal in superstores, Africans love to shop! A new study by the Boston Consulting Group suggests, with incomes rising, that Africa will have more than 1.1 billion consumers within five years. That’s more than the combined populations of Europe and the United States.
Certain products – like mobile phones – are a bigger priority than food in some regions with daily internet access for all kinds of services increasingly gaining importance. But the projection is not only based on Africa’s diverse middle classes having more in their pockets; rural communities too will have a big say on the changes. Jean-David Mihamle and Ken Karuri report.

Gabon’s golden palm oil

Business Africa has regularly explored how the global slump in oil prices has affected African economies and their need to diversify into other areas. Gabon one country pining its hopes on a different but widely used oil – palm oil. By modernising and expanding the industry, the country expects to significantly boost its agricultural sector by 2020. Serge Mankou-Nkombo and Selinah Ntobong have more.

Comoros goes geothermal

Our final story this week takes us to Comoros which has struggled with power in more ways than one. Providing reliable electricity has proved to be a tough task as the grid goes offline daily but new investment in a geothermal plant could soon make power cuts a thing of the past. Stephane Kungne and Elayne Wangalwa went digging for details.