Viticulture in Africa? Of course, the success of South Africa’s wine industry is well established and, occasionally, bottles from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco might find their way to niche restaurant menus in European, American or Asian cities. But wines from Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Egypt, Togo, and Angola?
Viticulture wasn’t on the agenda per se at the AU-EU Business Forum in Angola last November. However, in the bar on the 24th floor at the five-star InterContinental Luanda Miramar hotel, it was interesting to learn from hospitality folks that vibrant local wines are being produced in country's southwestern region. From the coastal Namibe province, where the hot and arid climate is tempered by the Atlantic's cold Benguela current, to the warm days and cool nights of the Huíla plateau, the climate and soil deliver perfect conditions for wine making, and two harvests a year. Most European vineyards deliver one.
Vale do Bero, a 25-hectare vineyard and the first to produce local commercial wines in Angola, is one that is harvesting this potential. The Portuguese grape varieties grown on the sandy loam banks of the Bero river absorb the unique terroir to deliver complex flavours and balanced acidity in around 80,000 bottles of distinctive local wine.
In Angola’s case it's easy to discern the inspiration for wine-making. There is a growing wine-drinking middle class, a large ex-patriate Portuguese population, and a sizeable, imported wine market – worth $49 million in 2024. To date, however, domestic production has been small scale. Yet, with a growing drive to diversify its economy away from oil and invest in agribusiness and agro-processing capacity, could that be changing?
A vast and diverse market
Totalling around $650 million, Africa's wine import market is still relatively small but recently there has been growing interest from the international wine trade. What has piqued attention is a burgeoning middle class, booming populations, and developed distribution channels. Advising its readership, not to "overlook this vast and diverse market", UK drinks trade magazine Drinks Business says European exporters should “think in terms of generations” - in other words long-term - and also to “adapt to local tastes”.
Meanwhile, however, as international wine exporters assess the opportunities, local producers are emerging as competition for foreign wine imports. Drawing attention to the growing number of vineyards, African Business noted in 2025 that “some lesser-known African wine producing countries are quietly making names for themselves, offering vintages as diverse as the cultures and landscapes that produce them.” They are taking advantage of their domestic markets, and growing in diverse soils and climates to create vibrant wines.
Angola’s Vale de Bero might be one, but it’s not alone.
Wine travels a long way to the 24th floor of the InterContinental Miramar Luanda Hotel, usually from European vineyards. It's not quite as far from Namibe Province
Kenya, best known for its coffee, is another that is beginning to exploit its favourable climate and rich soil for viticulture. Naivasha and the Yatta Plateau, as well as other areas of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, are emerging as wine-producing regions. Again, a growing middle class and large expat population have driven demand, along with the expansion in popularity of bars as well as other entertainment spots and restaurants, specifically in urban centres. “Kenyans have increasingly embraced social wine drinking,” says online wine magazine Second Bottle. Kenya Wine Agencies with Yatta wines and the Rift Valley Winery with Leleshwa Wines are the two major players in the Kenyan wine market, and hopes are high for worldwide distribution in time.
In neighbouring Ethiopia, the production of wine can be traced to the early centuries of the first millennium A.D. While statistics on the current state of wine making are in short supply, top international wine buff, the UK’s Jancis Robinson, has written about developments. “Vines planted in the breathtaking lakes region of the Rift Valley now produce dry domestic wines for expats, and spice-complementing sweet wines for the Ethiopian palate,” she wrote a couple of years ago. Based on French and Greek varieties, and the domestic grape Domoko, with two growing and two harvest seasons a year, “Ethiopia grape growing redefines the viticultural season,” she said. In Europe, one harvest a year is typical.
Surprisingly, Tanzania may not have an international viticulture reputation but after South Africa, it is home to the second largest wine producing region in Sub-Saharan Africa. Here the history of wine production in the country is relatively recent, as well as unusual. As Wine-Searcher explains, vines were first introduced in 1938 by the Roman Catholic Congregation of the Holy Ghost. However, the practice remained mostly secluded to missions until the newly independent government invested in grape growing. A two-hectare vineyard was planted in Dodoma's Isanga Prison in the 1960s, a winery was built in 1969, and the government began incentivising farmers to plant grapes. Since then, three main wine companies have grown to heavily influence the growth of the local wine industry; Dowico, Tanzania Distilleries, and Central Tanzania Wine. Together these three producers make the country's most significant brands including Dodoma, Imagi, Overmeer, Presidential, Altar Wine and Sharye.
Yet, across the continent,Africa’s emerging wine industries are facing, says African Business, “significant challenges” – climate change, intercontinental as well as international access, tariffs and distribution. Competing on global markets will not be easy, although the growth of tourism will help as visitors discover new wines.
There is, however, undeniably upward momentum, with African’s winemakers leveraging the continent’s unique terroir to create outstanding grapes and wines. Let's raise a glass to that!