Recare Limited, makers of Natures Gentle Touch haircare brand, has emerged winner of the Next Bull Award at the 2022 edition of the Nigerian Investor Value (NIVA) Awards.

The highly coveted award organised by BusinessDay Media and Nigeria Exchange Limited recognises outstanding private companies that have built strong national brands, market share and a reputation for standards and processes, in the next bull category.

Formerly known as the Top 25 CEOs & Next Bulls Awards, winners were selected through a proprietary survey carried out by the BusinessDay Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU) with respondents including equity analysts, retail and institutional investors, financial journalists, sectoral experts and professional advisers.

Speaking on the feat, Recare General Manager, Mr. Chijioke Anaele, said the recognition has further inspired the company and its flagship brand, the Natures Gentle Touch haircare range to do more for the Nigerian women.

“We received the latest award in our kitty with great enthusiasm. The NIVA Next Bull award reinvigorates our mission of offering women haircare solutions that aid them to express individuality, unleashing personal style and revealing inner beauty through the knowledge of beauty and style. It has given us more reasons to do more,” said Anaele.

Speaking further on the company founded over 25 years by Mr. Chika Ikenga, Anaele noted, “The story of Recare’s Natures Gentle Touch aligns with Nigerian women. From the beginning, it has set out to be deliberately different. The objective was to provide every woman with a hair that is one hundred per cent healthy, beautiful and natural through plant-based chemistry and the use of organic ingredients from the very beginning.

“The Recare brand empowers users to overcome challenges like dandruff, hair breakage, alopecia, dry hair, receding hairline, slow hair growth, hair loss, weak or damaged hair, dry hair and others to bring out the inner beauty.

“Our footprint continues to grow as our products have become available in many countries in Africa reflecting our determination to bring world-class personal style solutions closer to millions of women and men, “ he stated.

Since 2006, Recare also run the Natures Gentle Touch Hair Institute through which it educates and empowers a new generation of beauty professionals and provides a world-class brand experience to consumers. In the same year, it became the first company to manufacture the full no-lye relaxer kit in Nigeria.

In his own remarks, Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Limited, Mr. Temi Popoola, who was represented by the Divisional Head, Capital Market, Mr. Jude Emeka, said the award by the newspaper underlined Nigeria Exchange Group’s goal of promoting actionable and effective multi-stakeholder dialogue on issues central to a well-functioning financial system.

While acknowledging that the winners are worthy and deserving the honour, he clarified that the winners were selected from among companies that are active and the investors have expressed strong demand to own their shares.

“As a responsible entity, known for aligning with best global practices, we recognise the importance of corporate governance and effective board leadership in driving sustainability on the business front.

That is why we choose to not only recognise listed companies who are blazing the trail in investor relations, but those also contributing to building a sustainable socio-economic standard in governance, regulation and compliance,” said Popoola.

The Publisher, BusinessDay, Mr Frank Aigbogun, remarked that the NIVA Award recognises leaders of private and public companies who have created sustainable alpha-generating value for their shareholders through strategic priorities, operation efficiency, organisational values and marketing engagement activities.

He explained that COVID-19 was what most companies, including Nigerian businesses, never envisaged but the reality today is that the Russian-Ukraine crisis has again emphasised the need for backward integration and value addition to the nation’s primary produce.