Rihanna's Africa launch of her luxury beauty line is no accident; grooming is big business and men's grooming is where it's at.... male beauty parlours springing up across the continent, are adding to a multi-billion-dollar sector fuelled by increasing awareness about personal care and hygiene.
by 
Seth Onyango, bird story agency
Fenty’s planned launch in Africa is perceived as a reaction to the growth of the continent’s beauty and personal care industry which is now valued at over 12 billion US dollars.
Latest figures show the market could reach 14 billion US dollars in 2022, oiled by a steady rise in disposable incomes among the continent’s middle class.
According to Brookings Institute, growing discretionary incomes will lead to higher demand for high-quality, niche, and foreign-produced goods.
“Africa’s emerging economies present exciting opportunities to global businesses for expansion in retail and distribution,” reads its analysis in part.
“Changing demographics and improving business environments across the continent will be just two of the factors contributing to rising household consumption, which is predicted to reach 2.5 trillion US dollars (USD) by 2030.”
It further states that seven countries — Nigeria, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa — hold half of the continent’s population, and 43 per cent of Africans across the continent will belong to the middle or upper classes.
According to the World Bank, Africa’s youngest population make it an attractive region for manufacturers, brands and retailers.
In a release on Tuesday, May 10, the Fenty announced its African launch was a “natural next step” in expanding their ‘Beauty for All’ notion.
“I am a proud Bajan who also feels a close connection to Africa, and its people,” Rihanna said.
“I’ve had the pleasure and the privilege to spend time on the continent and those experiences never leave you. Now, being able to bring Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin to eight African countries and then hopefully more in the future – means so much to me.”
Fenty will launch in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia on May 27.
Fenty is perhaps the biggest and most hyped cosmetic brand to launch in Africa, where multinational beauty brands are already making investments in the region.
Both BASF and Symrise opened R&D facilities in Nigeria focusing on tailormade formulas specific to the needs of regional consumers in that market.
Rihanna’s brand might therefore unlock more investments into Africa’s beauty industry.
Meanwhile, the fascination to look younger and polished is ubiquitous among South African men, who are ridding on the metro-sexual wave, and are trooping to men’s salons to have a facial, a pedicure, a manicure or just a rejuvenating body scrub and massage.
As men’s grooming booms in South Africa, outlets like Sorbet Man, have grown to create a franchise with over 220 men’s salons countrywide.
Sorbet launched in 2005 and operates in five different formats such as Full Salons, Nail Bars, Drybars, Sorbet Man and Candi & Co, offering employment to hundreds.
Blurring gender roles, the growth of social media, strong marketing, and the rise of men influencers in the beauty industry is also pushing men to beauty shops and salons.
Men in S.A and key growth markets like Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria, are also increasingly buying shaving foams, beard oil, hair shampoos and anti-hair loss products.
Market research firm, Global Industry Analysts Inc (GIA), projects in this month’s report the global men’s grooming products market to reach 177.1 billion by 2026.
South Africa’s cosmeceutical industry will record the highest growth in the forecast period in Africa, thanks in part also to male grooming.
According to Statista, the sales value of the beauty and personal care market in South Africa amounted to an estimated 3.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 and is forecast to have a value of about 6.16 billion U.S. dollars in 2024.
Market research and advisory company, Technavio, in a separate report published this month, shows Africa’s beauty and personal care market grow at a CAGR of 2 per cent from 2021-to 2025.
“South Africa is going to have lucrative growth during the forecast period. About 53 per cent of the market’s overall growth is expected to originate from South Africa,” Technavio notes in part.
“The emergence of beauty and personal care products with natural ingredients will be one of the key factors influencing the beauty and personal care market growth in South Africa.”
Research and Markets, notes that consumer concerns about sustainability and the use of harmful ingredients have led to a growing market for cosmetics formulated with natural ingredients in S.A.
Cosmetics startups have also sprung up in that market, owing to black consumers’ complaints about the lack of products for their skin and hair requirements, leading to the development of new brands.
According to Mordor Intelligence, the growth of Africa’s cosmeceutical industry is also credited to a fast-growing middle-class sector and increasing urbanization trends.
“The appeal of such products is being considered as a Pan-African phenomenon, with more and more consumers willing to spend on such beauty and health products.”
This story was republished with the permission of bird, a story agency under Africa No Filter.
