Vietnam’s export turnover to Africa is expected to rise by 20 percent this year, underlining the market potential that the continent’s one billion population presents for Vietnamese enterprises.

The total export turnover to Africa is estimated to reach 3.12 billion USD in 2013, according to the Thoi bao kinh te Vietnam (Vietnam Economic Time).

According to the United Nations, Africa ’s population could increase to 1.2 billion people by 2050, a factor that indicates the possibility of high consumption demand.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade promotion Agency said Nigeria , South Africa , Egypt , Algeria , Ghana , Angola , Morocco and Mozambique have emerged as leading consumers of Vietnamese goods over the past several years.

Export shipments to these markets have seen a strong growth rate of 20 percent year.
Earnings from export to South Africa reached 62.9 million USD in January, with the main products being phones, spare part for phones footwear, cashew and coffee.

To Senegal , Vietnamese businesses exported 2.93 million USD worth of rice, textiles and garments, cars, motorbikes and auto spare parts.

Algeria imported good worth 18.9 million USD from Vietnam including 4 million USD worth of rice and 9.9 million USD worth of coffee.

It is expected that in the coming years, many Vietnamese items will have big opportunities to penetrate further into the African market.

For instance, rice consumption in the continent is forecast to increase significantly. Africa as a whole will consume 24-24.5 million tonnes of rice per year, of which 10 million tonnes will be imported.-VNA