CFAO FMCG & AGRI’s ambition is to provide the African middle class quality & affordable products based on its development model of local production associated with an exclusive distribution on local markets. 

In Ivory Coast, the Hygiene & care market has been growing for the past years, with a turnover estimated at €200million in 2016.

A historical local roots

In 2015, CFAO FMCG & AGRI took over SICOBEL, an Ivoirian cosmetics company established in 1971, which manufactures & distributes its own range of products.

SICOBEL owns 11 brands in several categories, including for the key ones, oral care with its brand FLUORYL, body lotion with CLARABEL or hair care with EBENE.

New initiatives for a more dynamic Sicobel portfolio

With market penetration of 73% in 2015, deodorants are a key category in the hygiene market in Côte d’Ivoire. Shower gels are also being adopted by consumers still used to bars of soap, but nevertheless display a usage rate of 4.9 times every week, a figure that only keeps growing year to year.

And it is in these flourishing sectors that in 2017 CFAO launched a range of personal hygiene products under the Ebène brand, inspired by African beauty rituals.

With a firm desire to support the changing habits of consumers in the African middle class, the Ebène range is made up of shower gels and deodorants made using natural African ingredients in gentle formulae that are kind to the skin.

Through this range, Sicobel will cement its position as a purveyor of quality cosmetics.

Adapted products to African markets

With a factory of more than 3000m² and 65 employees, SICOBEL aims to become a cosmetic key player in Ivory Coast, with a proposition of modern products deeply influenced by the Ivoirian tradition.

Products are specifically designed to offer differentiating range with an attractive price for the consumer, thus providing a qualitative alternative to local products but still accessible compared to international products.

Each product has its own distribution strategy, which combine supermarkets, traditional markets or pharmacies, throughout more than 30,000 points of sales across the country.