Revealing insights into ‘African lions’

The findings of a ground-breaking study by the University of Cape Town’s Unilever Institute and research company Ipsos‚ which delved into the burgeoning urban middle class in sub-Saharan Africa‚ have been released. It shows that the number of middle class ‘African lions’ stands at about 100m on the continent‚ and that the group holds a combined spending power of about $400m a day. The study covered 10 African cities and included interviews with a sample of about 7 500 people. A TimesLIVE report notes that researchers found that they earn an average of R200 to R250 a day, are divided into three middle class segments (‘accomplished’, ‘comfortable’ and ‘vulnerable’). UCT professor of economics Haroon Bhorat said the notion of middle class was ‘subjective’. ‘What we do know is that stable countries are characterised by a large middle class. They will often be the dominant consumers. South Africa‚ for example‚ has a vocal middle class‚ which feeds into social stability and a large consumer market,’ he said.