– BtoB Set For Beauty West Africa Exhibition
As the second edition of Beauty West Africa Exhibition is set to hold in Lagos, experts in the industry have asked for better policies and an enabling environment to sustain the over $1 billion industry in Nigeria.
Beauty West Africa Exhibition hosted by Business to Business (BtoB) event is a dynamic global exhibition that has overseen beauty exhibitions across four continents, with over eight exhibitions across Africa, presenting opportunity to Nigeria’s market and partner with local companies. Last year, BtoB made a big impact on Nigeria’s beauty sector through its international exhibition platform, Beauty West Africa, which drew over 100 international companies into Nigeria. This year’s exhibition will witness more than 200 international companies into Nigeria.
Official partner, Beauty West Africa and CEO of Compass Global Services, Tokunbo Chiedu, said this edition is expected to draw more nations and foreign companies and present the country industry to interact with other global brands. “We have different segments, and every segment is focused on an area or an element that affects the business of beauty in Africa. We have a segment on government and regulations; everybody knows that the government has to provide an enabling environment. We also want to have a conversation around the creative sector, how to bring together the different sectors within the creative industry because beauty is part of the creative sector.”
Speaking further, Managing Director, BtoB, Jamie Hill, said: “We have exhibitors from Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa and other nations. But more importantly, we have almost triple the number of Nigerian businesses that will be exhibiting with us.
“Access to finance is something that’s also quite difficult in Nigeria, so we have a special SME zone to help empower start-ups and SMEs. We have delegations coming in from traditional markets across Lagos State and are working with the Supermarket Owners Association of Nigeria. We have taken a lot of time in contacting the right team to ensure that the product is right for the local market and complies with import restrictions. We have to have a number of conversations and diligence for our exhibitors to make sure that they are what they say they are,” he added.