Africa: Procter & Gamble business grows by a magnitude of 10 in just a decade

Multinational FMCG manufacturer Procter & Gamble (P&G) has seen business in Africa grow more than tenfold in the past decade, Bizcommunity reports.

According to P&G vice-chairman in charge of global business units Dimitri Panayotopoulos‚ there remain huge long long-term business opportunities in the continent. "The African population is growing and consumers are becoming more affluent and demanding high-quality brands that weren't previously available here‚" he commented.

Among future investments, the company plans to build a R1.6bn (approx $157 million) manufacturing plant in South Africa‚ in line with its aim for making the country the manufacturing hub of P&G's southern and east African markets. The facility is set to open in 2016 or early 2017 with construction expected to start early next year.

Michael Yates, managing director of Procter & Gamble (P&G) South Africa, commented that issues such as local infrastructure‚ fragmented regulations or unreliable systems meant that operating in Africa was not without its challenges‚ but that this was just normal in the course of doing business. "We do not see these challenges as being any different from challenges we've seen in other developing markets‚" he added.

Source: Bizcommunity