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Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty Out to Prove Africa Is Viable Market

The makeup brand’s success could help show the value of the region’s young Black population.

Rihanna shook up makeup in the US with Fenty Beauty five years ago. Now she’s going after Africa. Above, the singer is in Los Angeles in March for the brand’s launch in Ulta stores.

Rihanna shook up makeup in the US with Fenty Beauty five years ago. Now she’s going after Africa. Above, the singer is in Los Angeles in March for the brand’s launch in Ulta stores.

Photographer: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
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Rihanna upended the cosmetics market five years ago when she launched a makeup brand for people of color. Now she’s bucking conventional wisdom again with a big bet on an often overlooked market: Africa.

The star singer and her partner, luxury giant LVMH, are taking Fenty Beauty to a continent worth an estimated $2 billion in retail value in 2022 across premium beauty and personal care, according to data from researcher Euromonitor International. The line is available in South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe.