Sub-Saharan Africa imports approximately 3 million tonnes of edible oils annually at a cost of over $3 billion, primarily soybean oil from South America and palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia. Most of this could be produced domestically from sunflower, soybeans, and palm oil grown in appropriate African climates. South Africa is self-sufficient in sunflower oil, produced by large crushing facilities in Brits and Standerton from Limpopo and North West Province sunflower crops. Zambia's soybean oil sector is growing, with new crushing capacity commissioned by Export Trading Group and Zambeef. Nigeria has become increasingly self-sufficient in palm olein from expanding plantation investment.
The Refining Investment Gap
The key investment need is refining capacity: crude edible oils require refining to remove free fatty acids, colour, and odour before they are suitable for retail or food manufacturing use. Nigeria has 16 operational edible oil refineries with combined capacity of approximately 1.5 million tonnes. East Africa lacks equivalent capacity, making the region dependent on South African or imported refined oil for its food manufacturing industry. Edible oil traders, refiners, and food manufacturers can access African supply chain contacts on intra-africa.com.
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