According to Euromonitor International, the global beauty industry is valued at some US$670 billion with Sub-Saharan Africa being home to about 821 million consumers eager to buy a wide range of cosmetics and beauty products.
Ghanaian beauty producers and suppliers can thus leverage this billion-dollar industry and the growing consumer base on the continent.
The International Trade Administration also mentions that “the cosmetics and personal care products sector in Ghana is competitive and profitable, thanks in part to an influx of new and foreign products on the market.” Despite this insight, many local beauty suppliers and beauty producers are gaining ground and producing top-of-the-line skincare products using natural ingredients.
One of such is the founder and CEO of R and R Luxury, Valerie Obaze.
Who is Valerie Obaze?
Valerie Obaze, who happens to be the daughter of Ghana’s sitting President Nana Akuffo Addo was born in London. This is what she had to say about herself; “I was created with an ingrained entrepreneurial, independent and leadership spirit, shaped by my unrelenting pursuit of excellence from my first job at the age of 14 years while in secondary school, to date.”
After completing her secondary level education, Valerie Obaze went on to Coventry University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Culture, and Media. During her education at Coventry University, Valerie Obaze became President of the Coventry University African/Caribbean Society,
With her knowledge and insight, Valerie Obaze built a successful public relations career in the UK which led her to launch her agency in 2008.
In 2010, following the birth of her daughter, Valerie Obaze wanted the best skin care product for her child and herself. This desire coupled with an enthusiasm for beauty and a natural affinity for aesthetics, set her out to find the natural skin care product that could take care of her daughter’s skin as well as hers.
“My inspiration to create the brand arose from the life-changing experience of motherhood and a deep desire to nurture and nourish both my daughter’s and my own skin with the purest natural beauty products. Being a lover of nature and a beauty enthusiast with a natural affinity for aesthetics, I was drawn to seek the best products made with the most potent ingredients that nature could offer,” Valerie Obaze said.
After being unable to find the right skin care product, Valerie journeyed into her native Africa where she found one of nature’s most resourceful and rich ingredients, shea. Being resourceful, Valerie Obaze set up her beauty company R and R luxury with shea as the fundamental ingredient in her luxury line of products which includes oils for face, body, and hair; liquid and bar soaps; and lip balm. This range of products according to Valerie Obaze is good for women as for men, children, and babies.
“R&R is an entirely natural, plant-based skincare brand from Africa, founded on the philosophy of transforming one of nature’s purest and richest gifts – Shea Butter – into elegant beauty products that moisturize and renew the skin,” a piece of information on her website reads.
Her Other Commitments
Valerie Obaze isn’t just the founder and CEO of R and R luxury but an active board director for three foundations: My Sister’s Keeper Ghana, The Women of the Savannah Development Project (WSDP), and Outpouring to the Nations (OTTN). Valerie Obaze also co-created the Mumpreneurs Network Nigeria in 2015 to support fellow working mothers in balancing family life while becoming successful businesswomen.
In 2019, she co-founded The Afristyle Lounge Collective which is intended “to promote the extraordinary fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands coming out of the African Continent.”