The Sub-Saharan area is one example. The numbers (more than 880 million people, 41 percent of whom are under the age of 15, and a rapidly rising middle class) are such that it is attractive for Italian companies to initiate investments that can pay off in the medium to long term.

To date, the sub-Saharan furniture market is worth about $9.6 billion (source: FederlegnoArredo), 60% of which is accounted for by local manufacturers. When looking at the 11 countries deemed most attractive to companies in the industry by economic and demographic growth rate (South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Angola, Cameroon and Tanzania), the value of Italian furniture exports increased by 132.2 percent from 2009 to 2015, from less than 67 million to nearly 158 million euros.