PZ Cussons said it is retaining its Africa business and sets out ambitious growth plans for the business, as part of a wider strategy built upon a portfolio balanced between developed and emerging markets.

In April 2024, PZ Cussons announced plans to conduct a strategic review of its Africa operations. As part of the review, the group announced the sale of its 50 per cent equity interest in PZ Wilmar Limited, its non-core edible oils business in Nigeria, to Wilmar International Limited, its joint venture partner, for a total consideration of $70 million.

The group, in a statement, received significant levels of interest from several parties regarding the wider Africa portfolio. The board has, however, concluded that the greatest value for shareholders will be created by retaining the business and building a Group portfolio balanced between its developed markets of the United Kingdom and Australia/New Zealand and its emerging markets – Indonesia and Nigeria.

The group is now setting out plans to build a winning portfolio of locally-loved brands, building on the improved momentum achieved in recent years. This will be delivered through three key pillars.

First is core growth – growing the core business in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana through consistently delivering best-in-class fundamentals of brand-building, distribution expansion, revenue growth management, in-store execution and use of digital. These factors, including the fact that the Nigerian business has, since FY22, more than doubled the number of stores which it serves directly, have been major contributors to business growth in recent years.

There is also category expansion, which involves expansion into new category adjacencies, including a focus on men’s grooming and beauty, with the existing brands of Venus, Imperial Leather and Premier.

The strategy is based on the significant long-term opportunity in Africa, where the population is forecast to grow by more than 900 million over the next 25 years, representing over half of total global population growth. Nigeria’s population alone is forecast to increase by over 100 million, further benefiting from urbanisation and rapidly growing middle classes. Recent economic and currency trends have been more favourable, supporting double-digit revenue growth in our Africa business in the first half of the financial year.

The board said it is confident that PZ Cussons is well placed to succeed through leveraging local insights and its brand heritage. The business will continue to benefit from its scale in manufacturing and route-to-market expertise, particularly against a competitive landscape which has seen several multinationals exit the market in recent years.

Nearly 80 per cent of Nigeria’s revenue is generated from brands holding #1 or #2 positions in their categories.