Excitement as Beauty West Africa Exhibition begins in Lagos
BEAUTY aficionados in the country could not hide their excitement, yesterday, during the opening ceremony of this year’s edition of the Beauty West Africa Exhibition in Lagos.
The event, which will continue till Thursday, December 1, at the Landmark Centre, Victoria Island, recorded a huge turnout of local and international exhibitors, and visitors who moved from one booth to another in search of beauty products of their choice.
Speaking with journalists, Jamie Hill, Managing Director of Btob Events Limited, organisers of the exhibition, said over 200 exhibitors were at the venue to showcase their beauty products.
He said: “We have a record number of exhibitors here, this year. And I’m proud to say that we have a record number of Nigerian exhibitors here because we are trying to do our best to promote the ‘ Made in Nigeria’ brand and promote exporting from Nigeria to other ECOWAS states.
“We now are officially the largest professional beauty exhibition across the African continent; that makes me very, very proud. So, from an exhibitor point of view, I am very pleased with the turnout. We have expanded over the three halls of the Landmark Centre for the first time. And as I said, we have a record number of registrations of people coming along, and we just hope that they come along to visit. It is free if they have registered. On the exhibition, we have over 200 exhibitors showcasing their products.”
On what the firm hopes to achieve with the exhibition, Hill noted that exhibitions have been fundamental to the growth of economies all over the world, since the post World War II days, adding that after the COVID- 19 pandemic, the world has changed quite a lot.
“Economic conditions are difficult due to various reasons, and an exhibition is a fantastic opportunity for buyers and sellers to come together and drive the market, the business and the industry forward - in this case, the beauty industry.
“I think it was last month that one of our partners, the Nigerian Association of Cosmetic Scientists, disclosed that the beauty industry in Nigeria was valued at N1.016 trillion as at 2021. So, if you have such a huge industry, I think it’s right for it to be serviced. Beauty West Africa has organised this exhibition as a platform for the experts to come together and discuss perspectives, knowledge sharing and also do some businesses and drive the GDP and the economy forward,” Hill added.