Fenty Beauty’s African Dream: Did It Live Up to the Hype?
We unpack Fenty Beauty's strategy in Africa, three years after it launched in eight African countries.
Welcome back to Africa Reimagined! Since I embarked on this journey to better understand African consumers, I’ve thought long and hard about those international brands that expanded their retail footprint into Africa. For many, the expansion is short-lived, while others struggle to build momentum in the market. A common theme among these brands is that their strategies often fail to ignite consumers, with businesses less willing to take risks. The innovative and creative marketing and PR efforts seen abroad rarely expand to the continent, creating a disconnect between local consumers and the brand. For many fans and critics on the continent, Fenty Beauty dropped the ball in Africa.
In 2022, Rihanna took to social media and shared the news that Fenty Beauty was coming to Africa: “The most important aspect at Fenty Beauty is to be accessible to everyone, everywhere in the world. Now that includes Africa,” she said in a 2022 TikTok video. In May of that year, Fenty Beauty products were available in-store and online in select African countries.
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The news that the LVMH-owned beauty brand was expanding its retail footprint to the continent felt like a huge win for the African beauty market. It garnered the attention of international spectators, with major Western publications including Bloomberg and Quartz analysing the launch. For years, beauty fans and enthusiasts have been calling for the buzzy celebrity brand to launch in the region. So when Rihanna told us that Fenty Beauty was coming to Africa, it was a signal to the wider beauty industry that African consumers should not be forgotten.
It’s no secret that well-established international players often prioritise expanding into more advanced markets first before weighing up a move into Africa. When they do decide to branch into the market, South Africa has always been the go-to entry point, as it is home to the largest beauty market on the continent. But Fenty Beauty decided to rewrite the playbook and launched in eight African nations on the same day including Botswana, Ghana, Namibia Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya and South Africa.
Everything about Fenty Beauty’s launch felt strategic. From the brand’s inclusive shade offering to having a large Black and African fanbase, bringing Fenty Beauty to the continent made perfect sense. Its bullish and bold launch made fans love the brand even more, whilst streamlining consumers’ access to popular beauty products on the continent. “Guys you don’t understand how important this [launch] is. As someone who uses make up from all over the world, it’s really hard to access because we don’t have things like Sephora or Ulta Beauty,” Zambian content creator Mwape said in a TikTok video. “A lot of the time Africa gets left behind which sucks. So it feels nice to be special; To be included, that’s all we want.”
Yet three years on, it seems like that bullish market strategy has simmered down. Fans, critics and consultants feel that not much has been done to disrupt the market since its launch. That has left room for rivals such as Mac Cosmetics and L’Oréal to step in. Many of these big players have restructured internal marketing teams, developed localised market strategies for each African country they operate in and expanded into new African countries, whilst naming popular celebrities as brand ambassadors.
What’s inside:
Unpacking how other international brands, once threatened by Fenty Beauty’s launch in Africa, stepped up their game
A look at Fenty Beauty’s activations in Africa over the past three years
Limitations in the market that stunt growth for international players