Valentine Okafor
African countries reportedly imported 1.163 million tonnes of chicken meat from Brazil in 2025.
The information is contained in the latest annual report from the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA), published in 2026. The volume represented a 20.3 per cent increase from the previous year and marked the first time African purchases exceeded 1 million tonnes.
The growth comes amid an expansion of Brazil’s commercial presence in Africa.
In 2025, Brazilian exporters gained access to the Tanzanian market, bringing the number of African export markets served to 45, up from 44 a year earlier, according to the ABPA. The development underscores the growing role of Brazilian chicken imports in supplying African markets.
Brazilian chicken meat shipments to Africa totaled just 662,323 tonnes in 2021. They rose to 721,756 tonnes in 2022, then to 816,611 tonnes in 2023 before climbing to 965,699 tonnes in 2024. Overall, African imports of Brazilian chicken meat increased by 75.67 per cent over the five-year period, equivalent to an average annual growth rate of 15.11 per cent.
With purchases totaling 336,000 tonnes, South Africa remained the leading destination for Brazilian chicken meat in 2025. However, the ranking of the continent’s top importers changed significantly.
Behind South Africa, Angola, Ghana, Libya and Guinea ranked as the leading buyers of Brazilian chicken meat, in that order. Together, the five countries accounted for about 60% of African imports in 2025.
While Libya was the second-largest market in 2024, it was overtaken by Angola and Ghana, which imported 106,346 tonnes and 94,952 tonnes, respectively. The North African country imported 74,965 tonnes, ahead of Guinea, which imported 72,643 tonnes.
Guinea was the only country absent from the top five in 2024. It entered the ranking in 2025, replacing the Republic of the Congo.
More broadly, Africa accounted for 22.49 per cent of Brazilian chicken meat shipments in 2025, up from 18.78 per cent in 2024.
According to the ABPA, the continent maintained its position as the third-largest market for Brazilian exporters after the Middle East and Asia, while posting the strongest growth.
The increase further strengthened Brazil’s position among the continent’s leading chicken meat suppliers in competition with rivals including the United States and the European Union (EU). At the same time, it highlighted the dependence of many African markets on poultry meat imports, even as several governments seek to expand domestic poultry production in order to reduce spending on food imports.