Black Founders and Their Business Growth Stories in Africa
Inc.Africa
Everything you need to know to start, run and grow a successful business in Africa.
Elevating black entrepreneurship: Inspiring business growth tales from Africa.
Even more so now that the poles of our planet are warming, the greater concern has shifted from brand names to a piece of clothing’s ecological impact, and in the Western world, that peace of mind comes with a hefty markup.
On the continent, however, that mindset is becoming a societal standard personified by the 3-word phrase: natural is better. The impact of that statement goes deeper than just clothing. To one business owner, Paidamoyo Valerie Muzangaza, that statement runs skin deep.
Muzangaza’s cosmetics company, Sunneva Naturals, provides a diverse collection of all-natural skincare and haircare solutions geared towards turning African markets away from chemically synthesised import products.?
“There are beautiful parts and ugly parts to starting a business, I would say,” says Muzangaza. The ups and downs of the entrepreneurial world present unique challenges, especially for Muzangaza who in 2018 decided she wanted to break Zimbabwe’s mould of what beauty products could be and introduce her collection of oils into the market.
Muzangaza recounted how establishing herself was a notably difficult part of the process as she faced stigmas regarding the quality of locally sourced and produced natural products, both widely regarded as lower quality compared to their imported competitors.?
In creating her business model, Muzangaza soon realised it was essential to reeducate her potential client base away from the stigmas around her natural product. Now stocked in both pharmacies and spas around Zimbabwe, it is safe to say that Sunneva has come some distance in the past 6 years. Muzangaza says, “It brought out a tougher side of me I didn’t know existed.”
?Muzangaza completed her tertiary education in Australia where she studied the biomedical sciences at Griffith University, moving on further to complete a degree in Applied Sciences with a major in veterinary studies. She first started experimenting with natural oils at this time.
Muzangaza says, “It started with me, my skin just doesn’t accept anything (as a product).” After moving home, while working for the SPCA, Muzangaza began to blend custom concoctions from organic oils to find the mixture that might work just for her.?
At this time, Muzangaza noticed a gap in the market. If she could prove to herself that there was a market for the skill she had acquired, she knew she could create something tangible from it. To test the markets, Muzangaza quite literally tested the markets. Sampling the reception of her products at Maasdorp Avenue and Stables markets in Harare.
When customers found Muzangaza, her product was received well. As customers began to report the success of the products to Muzangaza the opportunity became clear. “The environment forced me to think differently and I allowed it to happen,” says Muzangaza.?
When the brand initially registered it fell under the umbrella of Bespoke Delights, another Zimbabwean cosmetic company, until in January 2023, Muzangaza was able to make off on her own under the business name Sunneva Naturals.
As alluded to in the company title, Muzangaza was and is still determined to only use the finest of regionally and continentally available organic and natural oils and butters.?
Among her main ingredients are household names we see on imported beauty products often, like: mafura oil, marula oil, baobab and grapeseed oils, shea and cocoa butters, and Ximenia. Her ingredients exclusively come from African countries. While the majority come from Zimbabwe, Muzangaza sources oils and butters from Namibia and Ghana as well.?
Although geared for sales, Muzangaza’s business is centered around her customers and meeting their needs.?
Muzangza said, “That is one of the things that keeps me going.” Being able to provide skincare solutions to her customers has been a driving force for Muzangaza from the inception of her business. Her customers come to her with a wide variety of issues, ranging from something as common as dry skin to cases of eczema that her products were able to alleviate according to customer testimony.?
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Gregory Santiago has been buying products from Sunneva Naturals for just over a year and a half after hearing about the brand through word of mouth. Before hearing about Sunneva Naturals, Santiago felt the gap in the market, lamenting the lack of availability of natural products in Zimbabwe.
Santiago says, “Usually in Zimbabwe, what’s available is what you get.” As athletes, Santiago, his wife and children now use a host of Muzangaza’s products.
They all use Muzangaza’s rose and germanium sea and Himalayan bath salts after big runs or sporting events to soothe the body's muscles as well as the ylang-ylang and citrus head-to-toe oil. Santiago’s wife, who has dreadlocks uses peppermint and rosemary hair and scalp treatment oil to keep her hair healthy and avoid any breakage, whereas Santiago himself frequently purchases a variety of custom beard products to maintain his facial hair.?
Muzangaza has the trust of her customers which continues to propel her forwards, and that trust is not easily earned or lost. Although in recent years, many companies have shot up to fill the gap in the market for natural products, other companies have been fighting the same battle for just as long.?
Another tried and tested natural brand making its way into the skincare industry in Zimbabwe is House of Langa, owned and run by former Miss Zimbabwe, Langa Sibanda. Modelling through the 90s, Sibanda always felt a lack of representation for her skin tone, while working in the UK, Sibanda was frequently asked to bring her make-up to shoots by make-up artists because they could never match her skin with the products that were available on the market.?
“I wanted to solve my problem because I always felt left out when it came to make-up,” says Sibanda. Although black skin has over 20 shades, the make-up in the market never represented black complexions well compared to the six shades of white skin whose products vastly outnumbered the former, dominating the market.?
Although the make-up industry began to cater more to its black clientele as the years advanced, Sibanda would only find a spark for a product she felt to be exceptional in 2007.
At a weekend getaway to a health farm with one of her friends, a skincare professional offered Sibanda the opportunity to try mineral makeup. Mineral makeup is a byproduct of naturally occurring minerals that are broken down to fine particles, purified and used to create various make-up items like foundations, blushes, lipsticks and concealers.?
The effects of these naturally occurring minerals on the skin effectively heal, nourish and protect, all while providing coverage and highlighting the user’s facial features. In addition, mineral makeup keeps the skin's pores clear and some of her make-up employs naturally occurring clays that help absorb oils from the skin, an issue common among black populations.
Once Sibanda returned from the diaspora, she decided to share the wonders of mineral make-up with the Zimbabwean markets in 2013. “When I started, it was mainly about creating a product to give an identity to women like me and making sure they felt catered to and represented in the (cosmetics) industry,” Sibanda explains.?
According to Sibanda, at the time many people thought her entry into the cosmetic industry would be impossible because of Zimbabweans’ marriage to foreign brands. However, with a focus on a quality product from quality ingredients to noteworthy packaging, Sibanda had faith that she would be able to penetrate the market. Similar to Muzangaza, Sibanda’s first major hurdle was educating her market on what mineral make-up is and what benefits there are in using it.?
After conducting market research, Sibanda knew that there was room in Zimbabwe for her natural products. “The idea and the vision was something that could sit on any shelf around the world,” she says. From humble beginnings grinding up mineral-rich soils in her kitchen, Sibanda now works with a team of seven who manufacture her product locally in Zimbabwe.?
Sibanda prides herself on House of Langa’s zero-waste environmentally conscious approach to business. For customers who purchase her make-up, when in need of a replacement, they need only bring their previously used container to one of her retail stores where staff will refill it, at a rate that subtracts packaging costs.
For her skincare line, all the ingredients and their byproducts are used, for example, their Kalahari melon seed oil, sees the seed used to make the oil while the flesh is used for edible condiments sold exclusively in-store.
When House of Langa started they were selling out of a retail space along Churchill Avenue in Harare, now her products are even available in-store in the duty-free area at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
House of Langa cosmetics have been available online since 2017 when Sibanda launched in London, using a company there for fulfilment. Currently, Sibanda wants to maximise the company’s potential to grow, partnering with ZimTrade to help get the product out to SADC and the rest of the continent.?
As awareness of the value in the plants and soils long overlooked grows by African populations, opportunity presents itself in droves. Acknowledging businesses that have been successful in utilising these naturally occurring ingredients should lead to a healthier, simpler life for Africans.
“Slowly Zimbabweans have begun to appreciate themselves and local businesses,” says Sibanda, and this is an appreciation we could all use across the continent. An appreciation of the simple fact that quality comes from home.