Human Hair: How This Business Makes Millions of Dollars in Africa, and the Tricks You Didn’t Know
According to estimates , Africa’s dry hair market — that is, the market for weaves, wigs and hair extensions — is currently worth over $6 billion a year and growing quite rapidly. And there appears to be good reason for the mind-blowing size of Africa’s hair market. Studies reveal that black women are willing to spend at least double the amount on hair and beauty products than white women. On a continent where over 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, the business of beauty, especially hair products, is experiencing a significant boom. Every year, the value of trade in shampoos, relaxers and hair lotions in Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroon is over $1.1 billion. This figure does not even include sales in other 40+ Sub-Saharan countries. And according to Euromonitor International, the market for liquid haircare products in Africa will continue to grow at a 5 percent rate between 2013 and 2018. But I digress…...