Why The Case For Sourcing From Africa Has Never Been Stronger, And Still Gets Ignored

Small BusinessEntrepreneursWhy The Case For Sourcing From Africa Has Never Been Stronger, And Still Gets IgnoredByLisa Curtis,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Founder of Kuli Kuli Foods, covers entrepreneurs and leadership.Follow AuthorMay 31, 2026, 10:14am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Africa is growing incredibly fast, but most Western buyers overlook the continent (Photo by SEYLLOU / AFP) (Photo by SEYLLOU/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesThe exhibit hall at Cape Town’s Good Life Show smelled like rooibos, baobab, and something harder to name. Ambition, maybe. Africa's largest natural food tradeshow drew hundreds of exhibitors this May: kombucha makers working with indigenous South African botanicals, macadamia milk brands operating carbon-negative factories, moringa farmers who started by feeding orphaned children porridge and built export-ready wellness companies. I spent two days interviewing founders. Not one of them had a lion in their backyard.That joke, and the fact that it still needs to be made, gets at the core of why American companies and retailers keep missing Africa. The continent that carries the richest biodiversity of functional plant ingredients on earth, a consumer market projected to surpass $2.5 trillion by 2030, and seven of the world’s twenty fastest-growing economies is still processed through a lens of risk and charity rather than one of partnership and opportunity.Cosmos Mamhunze, International Trade Specialist and co-organizer of the Good Life Show, told me in an interview: "International buyers normally think that there’s no quality, there’s no capacity in Africa. But this show is proving it’s the other way around. There is lots of creativity in Africa, there’s lots of innovation, there’s capacity: farmers are here, they are eager to grow, they're export ready. Africa is rea...