Chinese investors "boost" Africa's tire industry
Currently, Africa has very limited tire production capabilities, and there are only a few factories on the continent (and Goodyear is even closing its production in South Africa), but in the coming years, the situation may change, as the continent has attracted serious interest from Chinese investors who have launched a number of projects in the region:
Algeria
Recently, the construction of a new tire plant worth around $390 million was launched in Tafraoui (Oran, Algeria), which is a joint venture between El Hadj Larbi Industry (EHLI) and the Chinese Doublestar (which owns a 45% stake in Kumho). After reaching full capacity, the plant is expected to produce 5 million passenger and 2 million truck tires per year, with a staff of around 2,000 people.
The new production site will become the largest tire plant in Algeria (the country already has Iris Tyres) and in all of North Africa, and the products are planned to be supplied to the local market, as well as to the Central African region and Europe.
EHLI is the largest tire distributor in the country, and cooperation with Doublestar began almost 20 years ago, and local media note that the new project will strengthen Chinese-Algerian trade and economic cooperation.
Morocco
In Morocco, a tire plant of the Chinese Sentury is already operating, which received additional investments to expand its capacity after the forced freeze of a similar project in Spain, and not so long ago, the company Shandong Yongsheng Rubber Group announced plans to localize production in the country.
The planned capacity of the enterprise is 6 million passenger tires per year, and the company intends to sell its products primarily in the markets of Africa, Europe, and the USA. Yongsheng was founded in 1986 and produces tires under such brands as Tracmax, Doupro, Rotalla, Rockstone, and Roadance.
For Yongsheng, this is not the only project abroad, and in December 2024, it was announced that the company will participate in the creation of a joint venture for the production of tires in the industrial zone of the city of Jizan in Saudi Arabia.
Egypt
Egypt, unlike many other countries in the region, is not limited to importing tires, but also produces them, and the country has plants of such companies as Prometeon Tyre Group (PTG) and Pyramids Tires, and soon the company Chaoyang Long March Tyre will join them, which already has production in Pakistan, where a joint venture with the local Servis Group was created.
The new plant plans to produce tires for both trucks and buses, as well as for passenger cars, and information about its designed capacity and investment volume has not been disclosed. As noted in Long March, the company already has a "relatively high share of the Egyptian market", and tires will be supplied to the markets of Africa and the Middle East.
Angola
Angola currently has no tire production, but not so long ago, the company Aço Bom, based in the Chinese province of Fujian, announced plans to build a plant worth $100 million in the country.
In the first stage, it is planned to produce 30,000 motorcycle tires and 60,000 cameras per day, which will be mainly intended for the markets of Angola and neighboring countries, and later the company plans to establish the production of tires for passenger and light commercial vehicles, as well as special equipment. The production start is scheduled for 2028, and more than 1,300 jobs will be created, with an emphasis on the fact that 95% of them will be occupied by Angolan specialists.
Kenya
In January 2025, Kenyan President William Ruto announced that the company Shandong Linglong Tire, one of the largest tire manufacturers from China, which already has two plants outside the PRC: in Thailand and Serbia, plans to build a tire plant in the country to serve the African market.
"Kenya continues to position itself as an attractive place for foreign investment and offers a range of stimulating measures to increase investor confidence," Ruto noted.
The volume of investments and planned capacities are not disclosed, and the media write that "there is potential for creating hundreds of jobs for young people". The plant is planned to be built in a special economic zone in Dongo-Kundu, which is located near the port of Mombasa, which, according to Ruto, "is an ideal gateway to regional and international markets".
It is reported that the project was approved by the Kenyan Ministry of Investment and the Port Authority of Mombasa, and Linglong also plans to build a plant in Brazil.
Tanzania
In Tanzania, the company Hubei Aulice Tyre has decided to build its own plant, investing around 700 million yuan (99 million dollars) in the launch of production with a capacity of 1.2 million truck tires. The implementation period of the project is not disclosed, and the media note that the enterprise will be called Baha Tyre, and its legal address is located in Kibaha, near Dar es Salaam, one of the largest ports on the east coast of Africa.
Aulice produces tires under such brands as Aulice, Vanlustone, and Aosowing, and the company notes that the goal of the new investment project is to "continue to develop foreign markets based on our overall development strategy".
Nigeria
Last February, the management of Maxxis visited the Ukwa-East region in Nigeria, and it was reported that the managers inspected a plot of land on which a new tire plant could be built, and the attractiveness of the location is connected, among other things, with the launch of a large power plant.
Previously, Maxxis said that starting from 2008, they achieved significant sales growth in the African market and now occupy a significant share of it, but there has been no confirmation of the Nigerian project yet.