The private sector has come up with Baby Fair in Nigeria, a marketplace for convergence of industry and institution players in baby products and services. In this interview, the Communication Director of the Nigeria Baby Fair, Jide Benson gives more insight behind the thinking of the fair. Excerpts.
The upcoming Baby Fair appears as brilliant initiative, but what informed the decision to come up with the idea?
Thank you for appreciation of the initiative. The Nigeria Baby Fair is motivated in part by a video that went viral on instagram about two years ago in which children where crawling on a basketball court. The video elicited a lot of interesting reactions and we latched on to it to create something. As we got to work to give form and structure to the idea, we realised that there are many baby and mother fairs around the world and the size of the Nigerian market can cater for such a fair. A lot of remarkable things are happening in the sector and the opportunities are enormous.
When is the fair scheduled and who are the exhibitors expected at the fair?
The fair is slated for 1st – 3rd of August, 2019 and it will feature an array of stakeholders, products and service providers in the baby and childcare industry. In essence any business organisation or individual that makes and sells diapers, toys, games, children’s clothing, baby food, groceries, toiletries, sweets, biscuits, beverages, accessories and educational items. Financial institutions that offer products for infants and toddlers, those that offer paediatric, counselling or nanny services, you run a crèche, daycare, playgroup, kindergarten, maternity services and many more are the people that will be exhibiting. From all I mentioned that’s the entire value chain of the industry.
Apart from the exhibitions, are there other side attractions during the three-day fair?
Oh yes! There are a number of activities on the side lines. There will be master classes on an array of topics – parenting, family finance, caring for children with special needs, managing the mingling and other topics that our partners and sponsors want to include. There will also be baby crawling and walking competition, smiling and laughing competition, dads and mum will be made to perform some of those tasks that they usually do as morning or school runs. We will get dads to change diapers, make baby foods and more, it will be nice to see dads that are hands on. Those are some fun parts of the fair. Participating companies will also have an opportunity to pitch their business.
Some companies think they have established market and perhaps don’t need fairs, what advice do you have for them?
On the contrary, almost all those we have met and interacted with have received the idea of the fair well or may be it is the way we have been communicating it. A company and its brands cannot be too established that it will not want to continue to own or increase market share. In the business world, new entrants into markets have taken over from established leaders. We have had positive engagements and some of those who have signed on are big players in their space. My advice to any organisation that may be thinking they are established is to watch their back.
Security is a major issue in the recent time, what efforts are in place to secure exhibitors, visitors and properties at the fair ground?
Security is a major line item in our planning. There are three levels of security; the police, private security outfit and plain clothe operatives. Another interesting thing is that we would be having child and home security providers as part of the exhibitors; you will be amazed at the kind of innovation that has become part of domestic security architecture. I am sure you have heard or come across stories of what children have gone through in the hands of their care givers whether they are nannies or relatives.
Do you think similar fairs/exhibitions have achieved their intended purpose for companies in Nigeria?
The objectives for participating companies are different, some are participating to make sales, some for exposure, and some to network or make contacts. The objectives are different as you would imagine. Some of those that will be at the fair will only be coming to do demos or to handout fliers and brochures at their stands because the products or services they are offer are not to be bought off the shelf.
What economic benefits does the fair portend for companies, institutions and the general economy?
The key benefit for the economy is deepening the economy. The trading and transactions that will take place during the fair is flow of money and exchange of value. Participating financial institutions will meet parents and guardians looking to open savings or investment plans for the children and wards. Small businesses will make sales, get exposure, make contacts and those looking for distributors will find. The event is happening at the end of a school session and many people will need to shop for the next school year. The fair is a niche one and I must tell you that the team which I am a part of has been amazed at the kind of things happening in the space. We have received a lot of kudos indicating that it’s something the market has been waiting for. Our vendors appear to be more upbeat than we are.
From your research, what is the value of baby care product industry in Nigeria? Do you think the value will rise as Nigeria’s population grows?
I can confidently say that the industry is worth billions of naira, we don’t have exact figures but from our interactions with fast moving consumers good companies the size is huge and the potential for growth too. The value is sure to rise because as population grows so will the need of the population. Women that where hitherto seen as house wives or sit-at-home mums have taken advantage to become value creators. During the meet and greet for exhibitors which held recently, we met some stakeholders who wowed us with some of their products ranging from crochets, bissonets, breast pumps, baby hair care specialists and the like. It was such a delight to behold because they expressed delight at the idea of a niche fair that focuses on the industry in which they are operating. Some of the blogs focused on baby and parenting came about as a result of mothers deciding to spend time at home to raise their children. Having said that, we intend to commission a report after the fair with a research firm and the report will serve many purposes
