Many prominent players in the luxury industry rallied round the publisher of TLR, Mrs Funke Osai-Brown, on Thursday, June 20, when she celebrated the fith anniversary of the glamorous magazine in Lagos. The top-notch event held at the Wheatbaker, Ikoyi, not only availed the publisher an opportunity to reflect on the journey so far, it also gave the stakeholders an avenue to discuss the progress and potential of the sector. The latter marked the first edition of the TLR International Luxury Conference.
Since she unveiled the brand in 2014, very warm and amiable Osai-Brown has deployed all energy and resources to growing it. Of course, she has at her disposal the confidence, cooperation and encouragement of a husband – Anthony Osai-brown, editor of ‘BusinessDay’ – which has made the journey eventful. Daring and innovation-thirsty, she has ensured that the platform has experienced constant evolution or transformation, which has made it the toast of many dignitaries and institutions within and outside the luxury garden.
On the essence of TLR, she said at the event, “Our vision is to report on the African Luxury by projecting Nigerian brands. We are constantly in search of indigenous luxury brands that will compete with international brands. We believe this will contribute to economic growth of Africa.
“Furthermore, it is no longer news that Nigerians top the list of high spenders, they spend on luxury brands. At TLR, we don’t just want Nigeria to be a consumer of luxury but also manufacturer of luxury products that can compete with their counterparts not just on the continent but globally.
“It is for this reason we have been deliberate in our approach to reporting on luxury lifestyle by featuring top players in the industry some of whom are quiet players in the local luxury sector. And we have been reporting on emerging luxury brands on the continent.”
Osai-Brown explained that the Luxury International Conference symbolized growth and impact-delivery on the part of the magazine.
“TLR International Luxury Conference will attract senior luxury sector executives, corporate decision-makers and financiers from around Africa and the world including Chairmen of different sectors,” she said.
“Luxury Retail in Nigeria: The Opportunities, Challenges and Policy Options,” stakeholders selected across automobile, aviation, among others, agreed that people derive
While investors highlighted challenges facing the sector to include poor infrastructure, epileptic power supply, lack of creativity, high cost of importing finished materials for local products, policy instability and lack of data, they nevertheless predicted a boom.
Mrs Modupe Ogunlesi, CEO, Adam and Eve Homeware, delivered a keynote address titled: Luxury Retail In Nigeria: The Opportunities, Challenges and Policy Options. She observed that in the luxury sector, an understanding of what one sells, the psyche of the expected consumers are very basic ingredients for success. While defining luxury across different stages, she said:
“An experience that puts you in a bubble of euphoria, boosting your feeling of wellbeing. Incidentally, Luxury as an experience is the fastest growing concept of luxury at the moment worldwide. In Nigeria, we are a mix of all four definitions of Luxury.”
Furthermore, Ogunlesi’s keynote address was followed by a panel discussion where issues affecting the growth and development of the Nigerian luxury sector were discussed.
Speaking on the panel, Mrs, Ini Abimbola, CEO, Thistle Praxis said lack of data is impeding the growth of the luxury sector. “As someone who works with data, I found out that there is no available date on the local luxury sector, which makes it impossible to track the growth properly. Most of the HNIs we have in Nigeria prefer to shop abroad. Therefore, I discovered that Europe and America have data on the number of Africans who shop there and how much they spend. HNIs usually won’t shop locally, which makes it impossible to have accurate data on what they spend on and how much they spend.”
Mr Omotade Lepe, Chief Operating Officer, PrivateJets Nigeria, explained that it had become the norm in Nigeria that when there is a change of government spending power of some HNIs drop.
“Change of government does not affect the market in the most country as it does in Nigeria, which is the uniqueness of Nigeria,” he said.
On her part, Funmi Onajide decried the lack of proper shopping malls for luxury retail stores. She argued that the current infrastructure of Nigeria has does not support luxury retail. “You can’t have a 5-star hotel without a 5-Star infrastructure. The kind of infrastructure available in Europe is not here in Nigeria, and if you want to create that kind of infrastructure you will have to pay a lot to get that,” she said.
As an expert in the Automobile Sector, the Group General Manager, Marketing & Corporate Communications, Coscharis, Abiona Babarinde said: “for us, automobile is about lifestyle to complement your successful life to give people experience they deserve because average Nigerians is a car freak, that you want to drive a good car you have a bad road and are insecure.”
At the event, the latest edition of The Luxury Reporter Magazine was unveiled just as the panel discussion signalled the commencement of TLR annual International Luxury Conference
