The African auto parts market for passenger vehicles is emerging as one of the UAE’s most important re-export markets, growing more than 11 per cent year-on-year, and estimated to be worth US$7.68 billion* in 2013, an expert has said today.

Subhash Joshi, Industry Manager for Automotive Practice at Frost & Sullivan, said that on the back of double-digit growth of demand in key Sub-Saharan countries, the value of the Africa’s auto parts market is likely to double by 2020.

“Countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, have witnessed double digit growth in demand of parts in the past five years,” said Joshi, who was speaking about the key trends impacting the future growth the African automotive industry at the Automechanika Academy, a two-day summit running along the sidelines of Automechanika Dubai 2014.

“The UAE is known to be a major re-exporter of spare parts throughout the Gulf and wider Middle East, but now Sub-Saharan African countries such as Nigeria, Angola, Congo Republic, and North African countries such as Libya are gaining importance.

“These countries are becoming larger markets that cover about 30-35 per cent of total exports from the UAE and in three to four years, the market share for the African region will rise to 45-50 per cent.”

Concluding tomorrow (Thursday 5 June) at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Automechanika Academy features a series of leading automotive experts giving their insights on key trends and developments in the industry today.

Focusing on the tremendous opportunities of doing business in the fast-emerging African market, Joshi said that there are more than 21.6 million cars on the continent’s roads, while Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria currently make up nearly 70 per cent of spare parts consumption.

However, the region still has its challenges. “The African market is unstructured and the share of non-genuine parts is the biggest challenge to the automotive aftermarket in this region,” added Joshi.  “Political issues, credit policies, and business sustainability related issues also impact the market, but these are mostly limited to Central Africa.”

Despite this Joshi held that the future outlook remained bright for those exporting to Africa, with the best opportunities existing in Kenya, Angola, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana.

The final day of the Automechnanika Academy includes an in-depth look at the current trends in the global tyre industry by Surender Singh Kandhari of Al Dobowi Group, a presentation on off-road tyre challenges by V. Krishnaram of Emerald Tyres and a presentation of integrating in-car entertainment systems.

Organised by Epoc Messe Frankfurt, Automechanika Dubai is the region’s largest international trade gathering for the automotive aftermarket, featuring 1,695 exhibitors from 59 countries. Concluding on Thursday 5 June, the three-day event focuses on the following key areas: Parts & Systems; Accessories & Tuning; Repair & Maintenance; Tyres & Batteries and Service Station & Car Wash.