Nigeria’s $3bn cosmetics industry hit as facemask use slows demand for makeup products

In a world of facemasks, restriction of public gathering above 20 people and the new normal of working from home, Nigeria’s beauty and personal care industry is taking a big hit from coronavirus pandemic.

Information Resources reported a 46 percent drop in sales of global make-up products as of mid-May, but the beauty industry in Nigeria may have seen a higher decline by more than 50 percent, according to analysis from BusinessDay survey.

Sarah Imafidon, a business development manager at one of Nigeria’s top oil and gas companies, usually spends about N50,000 on make-up products every month, but for the past two months, the 30-year-old said she has not bought or had the need to use the products.

“My position requires me to get clients for my company and so before COVID-9 outbreak in Nigeria, I would normally attend a lot of meetings and conferences but for almost three months now, I haven’t done any of those, so no need for make-up,” Imafidon said.

One month after Nigeria reported its first COVID-19 case on February 27, 2020, the government in Africa’s most populous nation ordered the cessation of all movements in Lagos, Ogun and the FCT for 35 days to curtail the spread of the virus which has since affected 13,873 people with 382 deaths and 3,351 discharged.

While some other states also adopted the total lockdown with the exemption of essential service providers, businesses and several industries were disrupted with events, weddings, conferences, etc postponed indefinitely.

According to stakeholders in Nigeria’s beauty and personal care industry, the impact of COVID-19 has affected almost all the players in the beauty business as the pause in activities for an industry like Nollywood has brought them a big loss.

“I do make-up for a lot of celebrities, either when they are going for video shoots or casting for movies. But since COVID-19 I have not had jobs and hence no need to buy new make-up products,” a Lagos-based make-up artist said on the condition of anonymity.

According to Beauty West Africa, the strong population growth – particularly of the young, urban, and female populations in Nigeria – means beauty and personal care in Africa’s largest economy has plenty of scope for growth, especially in terms of exciting new products.

“As part of the nation’s fast-growing middle class, young people are becoming more westernised through media exposure, and are expected to drive demand over the forecast period,” it quoted Euromonitor to have said.

Kosmetica World, a beauty company, believes that Nigeria has become a destination of choice for investment by international companies that aim to seize the opportunities presented by the beauty and personal care markets.

“This is due to the expected population growth and an impressive positive performance by the beauty and care products,” it said.

Estimates by Euromonitor International, a business intelligence company, put the worth of Nigeria’s beauty and personal care market at $3 billion.

“The Nigerian is experiencing rapid and dynamic growth, providing lucrative opportunities for beauty businesses from around the region and beyond,” Euromonitor said.

Nigeria is reported to have been the catalyst for growth in the African beauty and personal care market which was estimated at $8.77 billion in 2012. According to the industry survey, the market currently increases between 8 percent and 10 percent per year against a global market growth rate of close to 4 percent. It was expected to have reached $12.60 billion in 2017 when the continent’s total population, the fastest growing in the world, passed 1.2 billion inhabitants.

While no one knows how long face covering will be required or advised in public spaces, it does seem like a feature that will be around for a while, even as Nigeria tries to get back to normal. Industry experts see this COVID-19 preventive measure and the restriction on social gathering as some of the factors that will cut the expected industry growth.

In the space of one month of easing the five-week lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun States, the Federal Government embarked on two phases of easing the restriction but the use of facemasks has been recommended as a compulsory item.

While announcing the guidelines for containment of COVID-19, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 said, “Every member of the public is expected to use a facemask.”

“The use of facemasks which of course has been recommended by health experts is one of the reasons our customers said they don’t need to buy make-up products like foundation and lipstick,” a sales rep at the popular Mama Tega cosmetics shop in Yaba said.

While Nigeria is not the only country globally that has reported a drop in sales of make-up products, a survey by BusinessDay shows that beauty products like lipstick and foundation are naturally taking a larger hit than eyeliner or mascara as they are obscured by most masks.

According to a McKinsey report citing Stackline data, lip care and colour sales on Amazon dropped 15 percent in the four weeks ending April 11 from the year before, and Euromonitor estimates that the US lip product market specifically will shrink 6.5 percent this year to $3.59 billion.