The New York Times recently did a piece on the rise of African fashion magazine’s like Arise, Helm, Haute and True Love. The article is a look inside the world of African fashion glossies and how they are servicing a fairly untapped market of upwardly mobile Africans; one that has been overlooked by international publishers like Conde Nast and Hearst.
“Honestly, upwardly mobile African readers are crying out for this magazine,” says Helen Jennings, editor of Arise, a monthly style title started late last year by the Nigerian media tycoon Nduka Obaigbena, who also owns the country’s leading newspaper, This Day. “Because the local magazines aren’t as high end or progressive, and no other international titles speak directly to an African readership, Arise has really caused a stir.”
The article also point out that alhough some high end retailers in London boast Nigerians as among their top five spenders, after “Chinese, Russians, Americans and Arab tourists from the Gulf” targeting a small minority of upwarldy mobile Africans is a tough sell considering the disparity between the have’s and have not’s.
“Africa’s pockets of wealth also are often buried in gloomy macro statistics. In most sub-Saharan African countries, only 5 percent to 10 percent of the population is at the top of the income pyramid,” said Sakina Balde, an analyst for Africa and the Middle East at the market research firm Euromonitor International. “While this might seem insignificant, in highly populated countries like Nigeria, for example, it represents a large number of individuals.”
According to its 2008 data, there were 110,200 households in Nigeria with an annual disposable income of more than $75,000 — and last year the country’s 150 million residents spent $750.4 million on newspapers, magazines, books and stationery.”
The article also raises the issue of how many of the glossies have headquarters outside of the continent. It’s great to see global African fashion magazines, yes, but if they’re not using the resources on the ground (African art directors and/or printing houses, for example) then is it a missed opportunity?
Putting African Style on the Page >>NYTimes
