In 2018, about 1.25 billion people are living in Africa, and Nigeria is one of the most populous nation on the African continent. It is estimated that by 2050, Nigeria will be the third most populous country in the world. Nigeria’s growing population is a result of a high fertility rate, increasing life expectancy, and a rising population growth rate.

Birth rate       

Nigeria was ranked 10th among the countries with the highest average birth rate for the time period between 2010 and 2015. For the past decade, the fertility rate in Nigeria has been at around 5.75%. For comparison, the fertility rate in the United States is less than half that. In addition, due to increased medical support, health and living conditions, life expectancy at birth has increased by approximately 5 years during the same time span. 

In 2017, the birth rate in Nigeria was 36.9 births per thousand, which was higher than the average birth rate of the African continent (estimated at 32 births per thousand of population in 2016). The high birth rate in Nigeria is a supportive factor that ensures that the number of babies born every year will be relatively high which would drive the demand for baby diapers.

Market Potential for personal care

The Nigerian market is an emerging market. There is huge demand for consumer goods especially personal care products. Being a heavily populated country, with a very high proportion of population aged between 0 and 4 years that keeps growing each year, Nigeria’s baby diapers market is the largest among the regional markets. Nigerian consumers are very conscious about baby care products. Besides the increase of baby diapers consumption over the past few years, the use of the adult incontinent pads is also on the increase.

The market for disposable baby diapers was expected to grow during the past few years, due to stable conditions, balanced growth, rising per capita disposable income, and diversified distribution channels in some countries, however, the market growth didn’t pick up as expected due to the currency depreciation and economic crisis.

In Nigeria, the diaper usage per baby per day is very low in the range of 0.05 to 0.1 compared to 8-10 diaper usage per baby per day in the western countries.

Consumer behavior in different regions

The Nigerian economy is showing unstable economic growth.

At the same time, the population of Nigeria is growing rapidly and the proportion of Nigerians living in poverty is increasing every year.

Due to the high poverty level, most of the Nigerian consumers are price oriented. However, there is a wealthy class of people who are conscious regarding the purchase of personal care products. They buy better quality branded products that offer better comfort and safety to their families.

When it comes to the retail sector, there are huge differences between the North and the South of the country. The poverty in the North is in contrast with the more developed South.

The international retail players such as Wal-Mart, Spar and others, are invading the Nigerian market. During the past 5 years the international-store openings were growing at a 36% year and some of them have introduced their own brands (i.e. Lidl).

An attractive market for multinational companies

Despite the weak economy, the consumption of baby diapers in Nigeria is expected to grow in 2018.

International companies already started manufacturing baby diapers in West Africa (i.e. P&G and Hayat Kimya in Nigeria).

The new comer to the Nigerian market was Hayat Kimya with its Molfix baby diaper brand which was introduced in the market at a competitive price. As a result and due to the economic crisis, other quality brands started reducing their prices. This helped the consumer maintaining his purchasing habit despite the severe depreciation of the local currency.

Procter and Gamble has already its manufacturing facility in Nigeria and planning for further expansions. From Nigeria, P&G as well as Hayat Kimya are exporting their products to the West African region.

Other local manufacturers are also well established in the market (i.e. Wemy Industries, Kimberley-Clark Corp, Angel Commodities Industries, Epesok Paper Mill, PZ Indistries, Femina Hygienical Products Ltd., Fidson Healthcare Products, Sankin Industries, Eleganza Group, Drylove, Grandex Products Ltd.

However, for disposable diapers Procter and Gamble, leads the market in Nigeria followed by Kimberly-Clark and Wemy Industries.

Market growth driven by competition

In Nigeria, there is a big competition between local diapers manufacturers.

They are pushing their brands with price discounts and advertising which is expected to stimulate growth as well. There is a large number of new brands entering the Nigerian market. Some of the new comers are well established in other countries. Growing brand awareness among Nigerian consumers is further expected to drive the market growth in near future.

Baby diapers and feminine napkins brands distributed in Nigeria

There are more than 30 diaper brands in the Nigerian market.

The Nigerian market is full of small shops, retail stores and also new shopping malls. The well-established and international manufacturers are mostly working in collaboration with local suppliers or wholesale dealers to reach the consumer. The local diapers manufacturers rely on small dealers and local super markets.

Among the present brands in the Nigerian market: Cuddles; Pampers; Rose Tenders; Happies; Huggies; Duckies, Gorich; Tekeone; Dinno; Mary Diamond, Joy Links; Tova; Sunfree; Baby friends, Abella; Lovely Baby, Joyous, Zahra Soft; Camera, Sunny Baby, Nicky, Braps, POLO Babe, Conmigo; A+ Care; Susu, Kiddi Soft, BEN 10, Smart Baby; De Lords, Mamy Care; Sweet Mother; Bonita; Baby Star; Uni4Star; Procare; Wiflux Baby; Sunny Baby; Baby Friends, Good Partner; Tete Baby; Dalyla; Look Baby, Lotus, Happy baby, Good Choice; Cuddsies; Bunny Hugs; Toujours; Little Angels.

Private label and new brands

Some of the importers/distributors started to be involved in manufacturing; few of them installed small Chinese machines and have been trying to produce for the private label market.

This trend could be interesting to watch as the market could pick up very fast.

Some of the convertors/producers in Nigeria are considering investing in new diapers manufacturing lines.

Other projects/expansions of International manufactures like P&G, KC which were under consideration are held back due to the currency regulations.

Conclusion / Opportunities

The Nigerian market is very dynamic. There is a good potential for better quality baby diapers and other products related to adults and feminine care. This trend will continue in the next years in other countries.

The highest share of baby diapers market in 2016 was in Nigeria followed by Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana; the estimated market size is of 2,065,296,466 pieces per year with around 1,746,545,000 baby diapers consumed per year.

Despite the high competition in the baby diapers market, there are many other personal hygiene products that can be produced locally. This can be an opportunity for the baby diapers manufacturers to offer a complete product portfolio in the future. Among which are feminine napkins and adults incontinent pads.

For the disposable baby diapers market, the major countries of the West African sub-continent, which hold high potential in terms of market size and growth, are Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Senegal.

Except for Nigeria, the baby diapers market in the West African region is dominated by Chinese suppliers under local brand names.

Consumer awareness about the frequency of diaper change is very low in most of the regions.

Therefore, if efforts are laid on increasing awareness about benefit of using diapers and the frequency of changing them, the market volume can be increased between 20 to 25% during the next 5 years, which holds significant potential for the future.    

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