Why Nigeria, Kenya and Sri Lanka are buying plastics machinery, moulds and materials — in numbers.
Nigeria processes 2.9× as much polymer as Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal combined. Leading import lines are injection moulding machines, granulators and recycling machines, injection moulds, extruders and blow moulding machines.
Demand drivers: 1,500+ sachet-water factories in Lagos alone, 2.5 billion litres of bottled water a year, woven sacks on new local Dangote polypropylene, PVC and HDPE pipes for housing, and EPR rules that make recycling mandatory from 2026.
Doing business: a 48-hour online business e-Visa, the National Single Window for imports (March 2026), an S&P upgrade to B (May 2026) and reserves near US$55 billion.
Sources: UN Comtrade via World Bank WITS and Trading Economics; World Bank WACA; Finance Ministry 2026 Fiscal Policy Measures; NESREA Regulations 2026; S&P; CBN.
Recycling and "other" machines are Kenya's largest machinery import line (US$14.6 m), followed by injection moulding (US$9.9 m), extruders (US$9.5 m) and blow moulding (US$4.7 m); moulds added US$6.3 m.
Demand drivers: the affordable-housing programme (pipes, tanks, fittings), a new US$30 million aseptic packaging plant, 130,600 tonnes of cut-flower exports a year, and EPR regulations in force since November 2024.
Doing business: a third of Mombasa cargo is transit to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and DR Congo; machinery imported by registered manufacturers is exempt from KEBS pre-shipment certification; the economy grew 4.6% in 2025 with a stable shilling.
Sources: UN Comtrade via WITS; KNBS Economic Survey 2026; Kenya Ports Authority; EAC; Moody's; CDH on the EPR Regulations; Norfund; Agriculture and Food Authority.
Recycling and "other" machines lead imports (US$13.2 m), followed by moulds (US$9.1 m), injection moulding (US$7.2 m), extruders (US$3.4 m) and blow moulding (US$2.6 m).
Drivers: about 250,000 tonnes of plastic waste a year with only ~11% recycled, a new EPR law, woven-sack and packaging investments, and a recovering economy — reserves of US$6.6 billion and the CESS import levy phased out from 2026.
The industry is compact and Colombo-centred: three days at BMICH reach the whole processing community, with PRISL as joint organiser.
Sources: UN Comtrade via WITS and Trading Economics; Department of Census and Statistics; Central Bank of Sri Lanka; Fitch; UNDP; National Plastic Waste Inventory 2024.
