Thursday, 22 January 2015

Queens of Africa dolls becomes the new fad as it outsells regular barbie in Nigeria


The Queens of Africa dolls by Nigerian entrepreneur, Taofick Okoya is reported to have outsold regular barbie in the Nigerian market.

The dolls which are crafted after Nigeria's three largest ethnic groups of Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa, highlights the growing sophistication of consumers and the need to tailor products to local tastes.

According to Reuters, Okoya sells between 6,000 and 9,000 of his "Queens of Africa" and "Naija Princesses" a month, and reckons he has 10-15 percent of a small but fast-growing market.

"I like it," said five year-old Ifunanya Odiah, struggling to contain her excitement as she checked out one of Okoya's dolls in a Lagos shopping mall. "It's black, like me."

The dolls characters are based on Nigeria's three largest groups — Nneka is Igbo, Wuraola is Yuruba, and Azeezah is Hausa and each has traits that are meant to empower the girls who play with them.

In Okoya's quest to use his dolls to teach the Nigerian and African culture, the Queens of Africa program was introduced through the use of books, dolls, comics, music and animation series, to help empower children of African descent and their counterparts to be confident and mature ethically.

The Queen of Africa book collections like, Queen Moremi, Queen Esther and Queen Zaria are available on Amazon. 


Watch Okoya's interview with Africa 54 TV.