Kenya cosmetics industry attracting big international players into local market
Kenya’s beauty and cosmetics industry, is estimated to be worth over 53 million dollars. It is fast becoming an important investment magnate, is pulling in multi-million shilling acquisition deals.
The industry, which is expected to grow to a high of over 64 million by 2018, has in the past three years attracted three giant multinational brands. These include French-owned L’oreal, Swedish-owned Oriflame and U.S. owned Estee Lauder.
Kenya’s first colour cosmetic line, Suzie Beauty, has also been involved in a deal that lead to a Mauritian firm, Flame Tree Group, takeover. The group, which recently got listed in the Nairobi Stock Exchange, also bought out four brands of Beauty Plus, a cosmetic firm, with both deals estimated to be worth millions of dollars.
After only eight years in the market, founder and CEO of the colour cosmetic brand, Suzie Wokabi says she went into the deal with the hope of expanding her market.
“Being a pioneer in our space, the Kenyan cosmetic retail Industry in Kenya was very infertile when i joined it. I joined it in a bit of frustration because every single brand was imported, everything was so overpriced and i knew there were people like me who needed a great quality affordable product that was local and available and that is when i came to find out that nobody has ever done it before and that is why Kenya is Suzie Beauty is Kenya’s first makeup brand. So for me it was to create this brand for the Kenyan woman and for the african woman, which has never been done before,” Suzie Wokabi, Founder and CEO,Suzie Beauty
Wokabi hopes to also tap into the larger African market that is also growing rapidly.
“We need to get to more Kenyans, mostly throughout Nairobi and a little bit further and then to the other major towns of Kenya and then regional and like i said, everybody is calling, everybody wants the product, but we haven’t had the capacity to be able to do that. Now we can but in a strategic way so we are doing it step by step. So perfect Nairobi, perfect Kenya, go regional, go continent wide and then global,” Suzie Wokabi, Founder and CEO,Suzie Beauty
Economists say the comestic industry will continue to grow due to rising income levels, increased availability of products, higher international exposure and greater affordability of products in Kenya.
Across Africa, Nigeria is known for its huge cosmetic market and this was indicated by the 440 million dollars recorded in sales in 2014. Similarly in South Africa, an increase in sales was noted, while in Kenya, consumers spent over 100 million dollars in 2014.
