The global ready-to-drink revolution has arrived on African shores, bringing with it questions about consumer behavior, market strategy, and regulatory preparedness.
When Diageo announced in late 2024 that its ready-to-drink portfolio had grown 23% year-on-year in African markets, the spirits giant wasn’t merely celebrating another quarterly win. The figure represented a fundamental shift in how millions of consumers across the continent are choosing to drink, one that’s upending decades of beer and spirits dominance and forcing both regulators and industry players to recalibrate their strategies.
Ready-to-drink cocktails, hard seltzers, and flavored malt beverages have transformed from curious Western imports into one of the fastest-growing alcohol categories across Africa. From Lagos to Nairobi, from Cape Town to Accra, pre-mixed drinks in sleek cans are capturing market share with a speed that’s caught many traditional producers off guard.
From Niche to Mainstream
The RTD category’s origins trace back to the 1990s, when brands like Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi Breezer introduced spirit-based alternatives to beer. But the modern RTD explosion began in earnest around 2016, when White Claw and similar hard seltzer brands created an entirely new subcategory in North America. According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, global RTD volume grew by 31% between 2020 and 2023, making it the beverage alcohol industry’s star performer.
Africa initially watched from the sidelines. Traditional beer commanded roughly 75% of total alcohol volume across sub-Saharan markets as recently as 2020, with spirits accounting for most of the remainder. RTDs barely registered in the data. But by 2024, Euromonitor International estimated that RTDs represented 8-12% of total alcohol sales in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria—Africa’s three largest markets, with projections suggesting that figure could reach 18% by 2027.
What changed? A convergence of factors: expanding middle classes, growing youth populations, increasing urbanization, improved cold-chain distribution, and the arrival of Instagram-ready brands that spoke the language of aspiration rather than tradition.
The Youth Appeal
Walk into any upscale bar in Sandton, Victoria Island, or Westlands, and the shift becomes immediately visible. Young professionals, particularly women aged 21-35, are ordering RTDs in numbers that would have seemed implausible five years ago. The reasons extend far beyond simple taste preference.
“Convenience is king,” explains Thandiwe Moyo, a beverage analyst at Johannesburg-based market research firm Insight Survey. “These consumers don’t want to mix drinks or commit to a full bottle of spirits. They want portion control, predictable alcohol content, and something they can grab from a cooler and consume immediately.”
The flavor variety proves equally crucial. While traditional African beer and spirits markets offered limited options, lager, stout, perhaps a few whisky or gin variants, RTD brands have flooded the market with mango-lime seltzers, passionfruit vodka sodas, and hibiscus-infused gin and tonics. AB InBev’s research in Nigeria found that 68% of RTD consumers cited “trying new flavors” as a primary purchase motivation.
The lower ABV perception matters too, even when it’s partially illusory. Most RTDs clock in at 4-7% alcohol by volume, comparable to beer, yet marketed as lighter and more sophisticated. This positioning resonates with consumers increasingly conscious of health and wellness trends, even as they continue to drink alcohol. A 2024 study by the World Health Organization noted that 42% of African RTD consumers believed these products were “healthier” than traditional beer, despite similar caloric and alcohol content.
Perhaps most importantly, RTDs arrived with lifestyle branding that traditional categories struggled to match. Sleek packaging, social media-native marketing, and associations with outdoor activities, beach culture, and urban sophistication created aspirational identities that transcended the product itself.
Corporate Positioning and Local Innovation
Multinational beverage companies have pursued aggressive RTD expansion strategies across Africa. Diageo launched its Smirnoff Spin range across eight African markets in 2023, followed by Gordon’s Pink Gin & Tonic RTDs in 2024. Heineken introduced Tribe Hard Seltzer specifically for South African consumers, while later expanding into Kenya and Ghana.
AB InBev has taken a portfolio approach, bringing Corona Hard Seltzer to premium urban markets while developing locally-flavored variants under regional brands. The company’s 2024 earnings call revealed that African RTD volumes exceeded beer growth in South Africa and Kenya for the first time in company history.
But local producers haven’t conceded the market. Kenya’s Keroche Breweries launched Vibes Energy RTD in 2023, combining alcohol with energy drink elements in a format that’s proven controversial with regulators but popular with consumers. South African craft producers have entered the fray with premium hard seltzers using local ingredients like rooibos and buchu. Nigerian entrepreneur Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s Afro-Caribbean RTD brand, Zaya Tropical, has captured significant market share in West Africa by emphasizing pan-African flavors and locally-sourced fruits.
Regulatory Concerns Mount
The RTD surge hasn’t escaped regulatory scrutiny. Health advocates across the continent have raised alarms about products they claim are deliberately designed to appeal to young and novice drinkers. The colorful packaging, sweet flavors, and social media marketing have drawn particular criticism.
“These products blur the line between soft drinks and alcohol,” argues Dr. Charles Parry, director of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit at South Africa’s Medical Research Council. “When you package alcohol to look like a juice box and market it on TikTok, you’re creating pathways for underage consumption.”
Several African nations have responded with new restrictions. Kenya’s Alcoholic Drinks Control Amendment Act of 2024 mandated prominent health warnings on all RTD packaging and banned influencer marketing of alcoholic beverages. Nigeria restricted RTD sales near schools and universities, while South Africa’s proposed Liquor Amendment Bill includes provisions for minimum unit pricing that would hit lower-cost RTDs hardest.
Taxation has emerged as another regulatory lever. Rwanda introduced a specific RTD excise category in 2024, taxing these products at rates 15% higher than comparable beer. Ghana followed with similar measures in early 2025, arguing that RTDs’ appeal to younger consumers justified additional fiscal burden.
Labeling requirements have tightened as well. The East African Community standardization body now requires RTDs to clearly display alcohol content, calorie counts, and ingredient lists, transparency that some producers argue undermines the premium positioning they’ve cultivated.
Market Expansion or Replacement?
A critical question looms over the RTD phenomenon: are these products expanding the total addressable market for alcohol, or simply cannibalizing beer and spirits sales?
The evidence suggests both dynamics are at play. IWSR data indicates that roughly 35% of African RTD consumers are “new entrants” to regular alcohol consumption, people who previously drank infrequently or not at all. Women account for a disproportionate share of this expansion, representing an estimated 60% of new RTD consumers across the continent.
But traditional categories are feeling the pressure. Beer volumes in South Africa grew just 1.2% in 2024, compared to historical averages of 3-4%. AB InBev executives acknowledged in their fourth-quarter 2024 earnings that RTDs had captured market share from mainstream lager brands among urban millennials. Spirits have proven more resilient, though even premium whisky and gin brands report that RTD cocktails are eating into on-premise mixing occasions.
The net effect appears to be modest overall alcohol consumption growth, perhaps 2-3% above what would have occurred absent the RTD category, combined with significant reallocation of spending within the alcohol market.
Looking Ahead: Strategy and Regulation in 2026
As 2026 unfolds, the African RTD market stands at an inflection point. Industry projections suggest the category could reach $2.8 billion in total value across sub-Saharan Africa by year-end, making it larger than the spirits category in several markets.
For producers, the strategic imperative involves balancing volume growth against regulatory risk. Savvy companies are investing in responsible marketing initiatives, funding ID verification technology for retailers, and engaging proactively with health authorities to shape sensible regulation rather than resist all oversight. Diageo’s recent commitment to exclude RTD marketing from all social media platforms accessible to minors offers one model for industry self-regulation.
For regulators, the challenge lies in protecting public health without stifling a category that’s generating tax revenue, creating jobs, and meeting genuine consumer demand. The most effective approaches will likely combine age verification enforcement, marketing restrictions, and excise structures that discourage excessive consumption while permitting moderate adult use.
What’s clear is that RTDs are not a passing fad in African markets. They represent a genuine evolution in consumer preferences, distribution capabilities, and marketing sophistication. Whether this evolution proves beneficial or harmful will depend largely on how industry and government navigate the next critical phase of the category’s development, a phase that’s just beginning.
