Cosmetics billionaire Rihanna to launch skincare brand Fenty Beauty into Africa

Yusuf Abdulfatai -

Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty, a renowned musician and cosmetics billionaire, has revealed plans to launch her billion-dollar skincare brand, Fenty Beauty, in Africa as part of a strategic move to expand the business and capitalize on existing opportunities in the continent.

According to a tweet shared by the singer-turned-beauty mogul, her Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin makeup and skincare lines will be available in Africa, the world’s second-largest continent and home to more than a billion people, on May 27, the official launch date.

Rihanna’s beauty products will debut in two of the continent’s top five wealth markets – South Africa and Nigeria – as well as other African countries such as Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time: Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin are finally available in AFRICA, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe,” she wrote. “We launch on May 27 and that’s just the beginning.”

Rihanna, the third R&B and hip hop artist to become a billionaire and the 1,729th richest person in the world, is presently worth $1.7 billion, according to Forbes.

The majority of her $1.7-billion fortune comes from her interest in Fenty Beauty, a fast-growing cosmetics company that sells her makeup and skincare products on Sephora shelves in the United States, Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore and the Middle East, as well as online to more than 150 countries.

Rihanna launched her cosmetics line in 2017 as part of a partnership with the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Mot Hennessy Louis Vuitton. In 2020, the company’s revenue exceeded $550 million.

The cosmetics mogul also owns a 30-percent stake in the Savage x Fenty lingerie line, which raised $125 million in a funding round led by Neuberg Berman in January, bringing its total venture capital funding since inception to $310 million.