South Africa wine body pairs Nigeria with red, Angola with fizz

Posted on : Wednesday, 23rd September 2015

South African wine producers are trying to cater for Angolans’ thirst for sparkling wine and Nigerian demand for bottles of red to penetrate the African market, according to the country’s leading trade body for the industry.

Wine producers aim to more than double annual sales growth to 5 percent in Nigeria, boosting profits from Africa’s largest economy, Matome Mbatha, of Wines of South Africa, or WOSA, said in an interview in Cape Town Thursday.

Exports of mostly red wine to the West African nation have risen to 4.5 million liters (1.19 million gallons) a year, while Angola buys 6 million liters, of which 5 million liters are bubbly wine, mainly shipments of J.C. Le Roux, a low-cost sparkling wine that in South Africa can retail for less than $4 a bottle, Mbatha said.