Is African Food and Drink Ready for Its "Afrobeats Moment"?

Look around you; evidence of Africa’s global cultural impact is unmistakable. You see it in Afrobeats and amapiano blasting from speakers in bars, clubs and stores all over the world. You see it in pieces by African designers, sitting pretty on some of the world's most celebrated personalities and showcased on renowned runways. You see it in our films winning awards at prestigious festivals and reaching screens thousands of kilometers away. 

It’s a good thing. In the last decade and a half, we have taken gigantic steps to reclaim our narratives, to insist on our agency — at least in the creative and cultural industries — and shut down the singular story of poverty and helplessness. Yet, there are still more stories to be told. What if the next cultural story is African food and drink? Is it time?

“It’s past due,” says acclaimed mixologist and director of beverage Thandi Walton. The Atlanta-based cocktail connoisseur, born and raised in Zimbabwe, carries her heritage everywhere she goes, pouring it into every drink she makes. "Everything comes from where we are from. You look at the culture in New Orleans, you look at the food everywhere, it's from our ancestors... We brought the culture, we brought the food, we brought the basics of food here. So why not?" she tells OkayAfrica.

Cabo Verde-born, New York-based mixologist and hospitality executive Marcio Ramos agrees. “It's never about it being our time; it's [always] been our time… For me, it's about people understanding that we've been here and they're just now getting used to us.”

As much as the world is catching up to the food, with the Michelin ratings and a surge in demand, indigenous African drinks remain an untapped treasure trove for global palates. This is despite staples like Zobo/Bissap/Sobolo/Karkadeh — made with the hibiscus flower — and Palmwine — extracted from palm trees and enjoyed fresh after fermentation, or distilled into strong spirits known as Ogogoro/Akpeteshie — traveling far beyond the shores of Africa. 

The vast cultural diversity of the continent means there is a rich selection of beverages to discover, such as Senegal’s creamy Bouye, made from baobab fruit pulp, and Ethiopia’s Tej, a honey wine fermented with the bitter stems of the gesho plant. Beyond these, grain-based drinks are also popular across the region, like Southern Africa’s Maheu/Mageu and Umqombothi, West Africa’s Kunu and Asaana, and East African distilled spirits like Waragi and Chang'aa. 

With this rich heritage and unique identity, a wave of African-owned distillers is betting that indigenous botanicals will propel their drinks across the world while keeping ownership at home. At the same time, platforms like the Make It With Martell series are encouraging tastemakers globally to use cognac as the go-to base — pairing it with these very same local ingredients — for their cocktails.

The Need for Economic and Narrative Control

After Afrobeats exploded globally, foreign investors trooped into Lagos, signing deals with some of the biggest stars and nudging the artists to create songs that serve a global audience, sometimes at the expense of the authenticity that attracted them in the first place. But when authenticity is lacking, sustainability becomes a mirage. What followed was the drying up of investment wells. It is one of the challenges that come with the “Africa to the world” model.

“People need to visit Africa,” says Ramos, who enjoys spending time on the beaches of Cabo Verde. He’s flipping the model to “The world to Africa.” “People need to broaden their horizons and open their minds.” He goes on to point out that misconceptions about the continent's development often limit how people engage with its culture. It’s a major barrier he believes African tastemakers should dismantle. "I think when you create something, you always have to do something... You have to invest time. You have to spread the word... It's about finding real people and making that story for them.”

Beyond storytelling, Walton believes the movement also requires hospitality leaders in Africa and its diaspora to put their culture at the forefront of their craft. "I use our teas, I use all the methods in bringing all the classic cocktails into what I know from my grandmother's house."

The Necessary Infrastructure

Culture is fluid, and this fluidity helps it travel and connect back and forth. But when that connection is one-way, the system is broken. As Africans, our cultural participation in the global arena must move from mere consumption to authentic production. It is based on this idea that Ghana’s tourism ministry built a policy. In October 2025, it hosted the AfroGastro Festival, inviting chefs from African and Black nations to push what officials are calling “culinary diplomacy.” 

The strategy is to treat food and drink as a strategic pillar for both tourism and export. Tourism minister Abla Dzifa Gomashie put it plainly, "Food is not only about taste; it's about trade." For Anne Kaoma, ED of Zambia Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Studies, “Indigenous food is not just nourishment; it’s identity, memory, and connection.” She went on to advocate for the return to “the authenticity and uniqueness of our food and culture.”

AfroGastro Festival zeroes in on the most logical starting place: encouraging cultural trade within ourselves as Africans. Travel within Africa is still so difficult and expensive. Moving products outside regional hubs is unnecessarily tedious, and testing and approval processes are backbreaking. It is a challenge that only governments can address.

On the other hand, private institutions across the continents are playing their part to showcase our own contribution to the kitchen and bar. Events such as Ajabu Cocktail Festival, Eat Drink Lagos, Nairobi Street Food Festival, Cairo Food Week, and Lagos Cocktail Festival, among others, continue to provide tangible backing for Gomashie and Kaoma’s statements. The infrastructural foundation is already there; the focus now shifts to whether policymakers can build the formal pillars to support it continent-wide.

A Taste of Culture

Before wrapping up our conversation with Walton and Ramos, we asked them to recommend one food and one drink from their countries for you to try. Walton immediately circled back to Southern Africa's traditional beer made from maize, sorghum, and water. “Umqombothi!” she exclaims, and then proceeds to sing the chorus of Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s 1987 hit of the same name. For food, she says Sadza (made from white maize meal), paired with chakalaka — a spicy dish containing chopped veggies, tomatoes, and beans — and chomolia (vegetables).

For Ramos, the recommended drink is Grogue, a fiery sugarcane-based spirit that he says will either make you fall in love on the first sip or “put a hair on your chest.” He recommends Cachupa, a slow-cooked dish made from corn, beans, seasoned meats, and vegetables, as a meal.

So, look around again. As you dance to the sounds of Afrobeats and amapiano and watch shows like The Polygamist and films like My Father’s Shadow, you’ll notice the undeniable momentum that African food and drink are building. Ultimately, as Walton and Ramos advocate, the story of our food and drink must always be authored by us, and its true economic reward enjoyed by us.