African women spent K451billion on hair last year
Looking good for women has no compromise. Once a woman decides to look her best, prices do not matter and often, nothing sways them differently.
Hair pieces, weavers, extension and wigs are accessories that are given prominence because ultimately, beauty has to start from the head.
Lately, synthetic hair fibres have been overtaken by 100 percent alternatives, in particular Brazilian and Indian hair pieces that cost from K15 000 to K70 000 against the conventional synthetics that are sold between K3 000 and K4 500.
It comes as no surprise, therefore, that a research by Euromonitor International estimates that African women spent $1.1 (K451 billion) on hair, including shampoos, relaxers and hair lotions in South Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon alone last year.
The report also says daring styles are part of the reasons for high prices and hair extensions mostly from India and China.
The demand for hair products and human hair extensions is constantly growing. The analysis does not include sales from other sub-Saharan countries.
With all the skill of a master weaver at a loom, Esther Ogble stands under a parasol in the sprawling Wuse market in Nigeria’s capital and spins synthetic fibre into women’s hair, according to Reuters.
Nearby, three customers – one in a hijab – wait for a turn to spend several hours and $40 (K16 400) to have their hair done, a hefty sum in a country where many live on less than $2 (K820) a day.
While still largely based in the informal economy, the African haircare business has become a multi-billion dollar industry that stretches to China, India and has drawn global giants such as L’Oreal and Unilever.
Hairdressers are a fixture of markets and taxi ranks across Africa, reflecting both the continent’s rising incomes and demand from hair-conscious women.
It sees the liquid haircare market growing by about five percent from 2013 to 2018 in Nigeria and Cameroon, with a slight decline for the more mature South African market.
This does not include sales from more than 40 other sub-Saharan countries, or the huge “dry hair” market of weaves, extensions and wigs crafted from everything from synthetic fibre to human or yak hair.
Some estimates put Africa’s dry hair industry at as much as $6 billion a year; Nigerian singer Muma Gee recently boasted that she spends 500 000 naira (K1.2 million) on a single hair piece made of 11 sets of human hair.
