While talents in the Music and Fashion industries in West Africa are constantly being discovered regularly; enhanced and supported by the major players in these two industries, such can not be said of the Hair industry.
Nowhere in West Africa do you easily find manufacturers of hair giving out free hair samples to hairdressers to encourage them in their quests to invent new hairstyles. A consequence of this stingy attitude is the dearth of creative stylists or new hair styles in the sub-region. Styles like Suku, Ghana weaving, which bear west African identity, are more than 40 years old. Since then, none can be identified in the same category.
Manufacturers to the rescue. By encouraging the creation of more hair styles, manufacturers will actually be helping themselves. Customers will buy more of their products, and the life-cycle of their products will be extended. It will appear like a case of investing in hairdressers, but the truth is that, they are actually serving their own interest. Call it a win-win affair. Until all the hair manufacturers understand this simple rule, only those who adopt it will succeed.
