Meet Awa Krubally, a 22-year-old Gambian lady who found her niche in cosmetic production. Awa’s passion for cosmetics beauty was developed at a tender age, she got the belief that human skin should be treated perfectly and should be flawless. With that belief, she developed her own cosmetic brand AFRIGLOW and focuses on both skin and hair products. Afriglow is a startup business launched in early November 2019, it came into being to help Gambians with skin defects and hair problems to get solutions to their day to day body care remedy. “The products had been tested on different types of skin and hair, the outcomes are always positive,” she said.
Afriglow has been in existence for one year, seven months. Awa explains that her products are naturally made using natural herbs like turmeric powder, natural virgin oil, raw shea butter, organic soaps. Through these, she and her team produce body scrub, body wash, hair growth food, body butter.
Ninety percent of these cosmetics products are imported into the country by wholesalers and retailers. Awa said she and her team are working on limiting the importation of cosmetics into the country. “We have to benefit from our own natural herbs, most of western manufacturers of body creams, body washes, hair food, get the raw resources from our African countries, we also need to make good uses of them, make our own cosmetics products free from Hydroquinone.”
Even though Afriglow is still a teen business, the products have always been in hot demand according to Awa.
“The demand we get after production is usually higher than the actual amount we do make.”
Afriglow, the brand name came as a result of the wanting to promote African skin glow and Afro hair.
”I am a proud African, which is why my brand manager and I decided to give it the name Afriglow meaning glowing the African skin and promoting Afro hair.
People with skin defects hardly have type of creams that will match their skin tone without causing any breakout. Awa said she is part of those people that got sensitive skin and easily gets skin breakout. After doing several research on her skin type and tone, she ended up loving everything about skincare, which gave her the motivation to take up the decision of building her own brand.
Awa’s plan is to burst her brand all over the world, make it a proudly Gambian brand, and create jobs for her fellow youth in the country. She calls for financial aid, hence that is the major challenge she is faced with.
Awa Krubally is a sister to six, from an extended family living in Kanifing. She did her West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) at The Gambia Methodist Academy in Banjul, then got admission at the University of The Gambia to study medicine, but was fortunate to get scholarships and divert to study business administration at one of the biggest universities in Morocco, Université de Hassan II, Casablanca.
