Ghana is being urged to seize a multi-million-dollar opportunity in Africa’s fast-growing beauty industry by transforming itself from a major importer of cosmetics into a manufacturing and distribution powerhouse for the West African market.
Industry players say the country’s strategic location, stable business environment and access to the 400-million-consumer ECOWAS market give it a natural advantage to become the region’s beauty and personal care production hub.
The call comes as Ghana continues to spend more than $8 million every month importing cosmetics, skincare products, perfumes, haircare items and other personal care products, a trend that underscores both the strength of local demand and the scale of the untapped manufacturing opportunity.
Speaking at the opening of the 10th Beauty, Cosmetics and Wellness West Africa – The Legacy Expo 2026 in Accra, Director of ACE Events, Praveen Singh, said the country was strategically positioned to capture a much larger share of Africa’s expanding beauty economy.
“Imports of cosmetics, perfumes, skincare, haircare and personal care products continue to grow steadily, with monthly imports of beauty and cosmetic products regularly exceeding $8 million, demonstrating strong market demand and consumption,” he said.
But beyond the import figures lies a bigger economic question: why should Ghana continue to import products that could potentially be manufactured locally and exported across the region?
According to Mr. Singh, Ghana has all the ingredients needed to become a beauty industry gateway for West Africa, serving as a production base, logistics centre and export platform for regional markets.
“Ghana stands at the centre of this transformation, serving as a strategic gateway to the ECOWAS region and a consumer market of more than 400 million people,” he said.
His remarks come at a time when Africa’s beauty and personal care sector is emerging as one of the continent’s fastest-growing consumer industries, driven by rapid urbanisation, rising incomes, a youthful population and growing spending on personal grooming, wellness and skincare.
For Ghana, industry stakeholders believe the opportunity extends far beyond retail sales.
Developing local manufacturing capacity could help conserve foreign exchange, create thousands of jobs, deepen industrialisation and position Ghanaian brands to compete across the continent under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The vision is to move Ghana higher up the value chain—from a destination for imported beauty products to a centre where products are formulated, manufactured, packaged and distributed to neighbouring markets.
Mr. Singh noted that increasing trade flows, stronger regional integration and growing investor interest are creating favourable conditions for businesses willing to invest in the sector.
He called for greater investment in local production, innovation and value addition, arguing that Ghanaian entrepreneurs and manufacturers must be positioned to capture a larger share of the industry’s future growth.
The three-day Beauty, Cosmetics and Wellness West Africa – The Legacy Expo 2026, organised by ACE Group in partnership with Makeup Ghana, has brought together exhibitors, investors, distributors and beauty professionals from across Africa and beyond.
Organisers expect more than 400 business-to-business meetings during the event, potentially leading to new partnerships, distribution agreements and investment deals.
Mr. Singh also highlighted the Beauty Cosmetics and Wellness West Africa Host Buyer Programme, describing it as one of Africa’s largest networking platforms connecting buyers and sellers within the beauty industry.
As demand for beauty products continues to surge across Africa, stakeholders say the real opportunity for Ghana is no longer in consuming imported brands but in becoming the factory floor, innovation centre and distribution gateway for a regional industry worth billions of dollars.
For a country seeking new avenues for industrial growth and export diversification, the beauty industry may be emerging as an unlikely but potentially lucrative frontier.
