Southeast Asia, Africa seen as emerging markets for agricultural machinery, says FederUnacoma top official

FederUnacoma, the Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Federation, has recorded a spike in imports of agricultural machinery from several countries in Southeast Asia and Africa, an official has said.

According to FederUnacoma president Mariateresa Maschio, population growth has been driving imports of agricultural machinery in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand in Southeast Asia, and in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the African continent.

Speaking at a pre-event press conference of the five-day EIMA International 2024 ‘International Agricultural and Gardening Machinery Exhibition’, which will run until November 10 at the Bologna Exhibition Centre, Maschio said in the coming years, geography will play a key role in Europe and North America’s roles as leading markets for agricultural machinery.

“Yet an increasing role will be played by countries, such as Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand, which are already recording growth in imports of specific machinery. Population growth – the source of this growing demand for agricultural technologies – will also be decisive in Africa, starting with Nigeria, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Maschio pointed out.

She said, “The agricultural machinery sector is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, but the geography of the markets will change. The major markets in Europe and North America will maintain a high level of investment to ensure high quality standards, and the two Asian giants – India and China – will tend to stabilise mechanisation on the large quantities achieved in recent years, but the emerging markets will be those of Southeast Asia and Africa.”

Maschio said Indonesia’s 300mn population makes it one of the most populous in the world and “destined to further increase its demographic weight in the coming years.” In Indonesia, imports of agricultural machinery have been growing steadily for the past 15 years, stated Maschio, and have gone from €140mn in 2009 to €700mn in 2023, or an average growth of 8.6% per year, with a further 6.7% per year increase forecast between 2024 and 2027.

Similarly, Vietnam, with its 100mn population, expects imports to increase by 6.2% annually over the next four years. The Philippines (110mn inhabitants) should increase imports by 7.8% during the same forecasted period, while Thailand (71mn), after a very slow growth in the last 15 years equal to just 1% average per year, is expected to move to an annual increase of 6.8% in the 2024-2027 period.

“The demographic variable is even more influential on the African continent, if it is true that Sub-Saharan Africa alone will account for 50% of the world's population growth in 2050. On the African continent, Nigeria, which already has 230mn inhabitants and will have over 400mn in 2050 (making it the third most populous country in the world) stands out, followed by Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, both well over 100mn inhabitants and destined to see significant growth in the next twenty years, entering the ranks of the 10 most populous countries on the planet.

“In Nigeria, only 46% of cultivable land is currently used and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a meagre 10% of arable land is currently used for agriculture. Thus, putting new territories into production is a priority for them and other countries on the continent, with an increase in demand for technologies in the immediate future (between 2024 and 2027, the import of agricultural machinery will grow by 7% per year in Ethiopia and 12% in Congo), but even more over the next 20 years,” Maschio explained.