Unilever Nigeria quit its home care and skin cleansing business — half its revenue

In March 2023, Unilever Nigeria announced via a corporate notice to the Nigerian Exchange — signed by company secretary Abidemi Ademola — that it would exit Nigeria's home care and skin cleansing markets over the course of the year, 'repurposing the portfolio by exiting the home care and skin cleansing categories to concentrate on higher growth opportunities'. The company said the move would raise profitability, growth and sustainability, and pointed to digitizing and simplifying operations.

What it walked away from was enormous: home and personal care generated ₦46.09 billion of Unilever Nigeria's ₦88.72 billion 2022 revenue — 52% — and ₦5.12 billion of its ₦9.86 billion profit before tax, from a brand base valued at about ₦50 billion. Food products made up the remainder.

The stated driver was currency, not demand: the same notice flagged 'business continuity measures that reduce exposure to devaluation and currency liquidity in our business model'. Nigeria's beauty and personal care market was forecast by Statista to hit $7.87 billion in 2023 and grow about 16% a year — Unilever was leaving a growing market whose economics it could no longer bank.

Home and personal care was 52% of 2022 revenue — ₦46.09 billion of ₦88.72 billion — with ₦5.12 billion of the company's ₦9.86 billion pre-tax profit.

The exit is a matter of corporate record: a signed notice to the Nigerian Exchange, not a rumor.

The abandoned base is quantified — 52% of revenue, ₦46.09 billion, and more than half of pre-tax profit.

The company itself names naira devaluation and currency illiquidity as the exposure it was escaping.

The contrast with market growth data shows this was a balance-sheet decision, not a demand decision.

When your revenue currency collapses faster than your costs, scale becomes exposure: Unilever traded half its Nigerian business for a model it could actually sustain.

The withdrawal from both categories was to run through 2023, leaving Unilever Nigeria concentrated on food products, with the company promising faster growth and a model less exposed to currency swings for customers, shareholders and staff.