PLEASE NOTE!
Our team is here to help you get your business up and running quickly and start generating revenue. Contact us now to get started.
Nevertheless, should you choose to do it on your own, this blog post offers strategies that can still yield satisfactory results for your business, though not as impactful as having our expert guidance. We are eager to collaborate with you and contribute to the growth of your business.
Is there anyone on this globe that spends more money on hair products than African women? It‘s a serious question and the answer looks like: clearly no.
According to Euromonitor International, people in South Africa, Nigeria, and Cameroon alone spend about $1.1 billion on hair care products every year! We mean to say: wow!
That includes shampoo, lotions and relaxers – and they do spend the money despite limited financial resources. Skin care products like lotions, creams and gels are used to smooth, hydrate (moisturize), soften and add fragrance to the skin.
In addition to these qualities, skin care products also help to protect the skin from the harsh effects of the external environment.
Depending on skin type and susceptibilities, using lotions and creams can help people to avoid undesirable effects such as dryness, breakage and skin diseases.
There is a wide range of skincare product brands from both foreign and local manufacturers on the African market. These products cater to different skin needs and types – normal, dry, oily, and sensitive skin.
Hair care is also another very important product for Africans, both male and female. African hair is unique in appearance and its distinctive structure, thickness, and dry nature make it especially fragile. African women spend significantly more on hair care products than men.
The most common and highly demanded hair care products in Africa include hair relaxers, conditioners, gels, shampoos, hair moisturizers, and several others.
Business Concept
The challenge here for you is clear: To develop and market an African brand. The African market is already flooded with international brands, and many Africans who live in the city have some sort of links abroad through which many receive their skin and hair care products.
But these products are usually expensive and getting them can be inconvenient, so the real market gap exists for a wide range of locally branded care products.
Including locally available plant extracts with certain health or rejuvenating benefits could be your unique selling point that sets you apart in the market.
Niche Ideas
Cosmetic studio with treatment using your own brand products
Organic products.
Baby products
Small sizes for hotels
Top Countries & Policy Guidance
Skin and hair care products would find markets across Africa, but it may be helpful to choose a market that is less competitive in this regard. It would enable you to find easier entry. Away from the big cities you could focus on markets in less obvious, dynamic African province towns.
Success Stories
Victor Rasugu – Melrose Bounty and Bown (Kenya)
Victor started his skincare company in 2007 with two friends after they realized it was difficult to get a job. Their biggest challenge was to succeed in a pretty competitive market with global brands. All they had in hand was Ksh.150,000 (US$1,900). They consulted a cosmetic scientist who guided them towards the development of their product range. They then hit the market with samples, but there were quality problems.
After adjusting those, they branded their products and hit the shelves. Just three years later, in 2010, their company was valued at over US$800,000. Part of their success story was that they opened production near one of Kenya’s slums using local machines instead of imported ones, which helped them to start small and also to cut the cost for the end users – this was their competitive advantage. They also used locally available ingredients and added aloe vera and sunflower oil, naming one of their product ranges ‘Back 2 Nature’.
Christian Ngan – Madlyn Cazalis (Cameroon)
After working in financial services in France, first as an analyst at French investment bank Quilvest Group and then as an associate at Findercord in Paris, Christian Ngan returned home to Cameroon to start his own business in 2012. With $3,000 of his savings, he founded Madlyn Cazalis, an African hand-made bio cosmetic company that produces body oils, natural lotions, creams, scrubs, masks and soaps.
Madlyn Cazalis products are sold and distributed across more than 30 chemist stores, beauty institutes and retail outlets in Cameroon and neighboring countries in Central Africa. The company does not reveal revenues but says it is profitable. Ngan, 30, is also founder of GoldskyPartners Advisory, a small financial advisory firm in Cameroon.
