The lead-acid market in Africa is expected to grow by just over 5% CAGR to more than US$1 billion by 2021, according to a report by market analysts Transparency Market Research.
The continent’s lead–acid market will be led by global manufacturers Exide Technologies, Dixon Batteries, First National Battery, EnerSys, and Johnson Controls, predicts the company in its report Lead Acid Battery Market Report 2018-2026.
Cheaper, better quality batteries and emerging applications, such as micro-grids, inverters, UPS systems and the automobile sector, are expected to drive the market.
The report noted: “Leading manufacturers of commercial automobiles are stressing on the production of electric and hybrid vehicles across various model ranges. These automobiles are set to make use of lead-acid batteries as source of power.”
“As such, it can be said that with the rise in demand for vehicles, the demand for lead-acid batteries in the automotive sector also increases.”
The uptake of UPS systems is also bolstering the market complementarily as they require batteries to run and lead-acid batteries are considered to be the most effective amongst the energy storage sources, stated the report.
Of course, the issue of more lead-acid batteries in the region raises the question of recycling.
Back in 2016 BBB ran a story on a damning report about battery recycling in Africa. The Lead Recycling Africa Project, found lead poisoning was severely under-reported in sub-Saharan Africa, where 800,000 tonnes (8% of annual world production) was made available each year for recycling.
