COVID-19 pandemic has created a huge market for face masks said to be worth $74.90bn globally in the first quarter of 2021, JOSEPH OLAOLUWA reports
He said, “I came from Ondo State and I started this business two months ago. I came to Lagos on November 13 to start the business. In the morning of February 27, 2020, Lagos reported its first case, a 44-year-old Italian man who slipped into Nigeria from Milan. He was able to pass through airports undetected.
Confiding in our correspondent, he noted that the gains were good when the pandemic spiked in March 2020. However, during this period, no gains were forthcoming. He said, “They just began to buy cloth face masks but it is not too long ago. Sometime ago, they were not buying it but when the government enforced the masks again, then they reshed for it.”
The black face mask which is slowly becoming a fashion statement is quite thicker than the usual blue surgical masks. Shonibare says a pack of that face masks can range from N3,300 to say N3,500. Therefore, it had to be sold for N200, higher than the blue ones It added, “Disposable face covers are extensively used in the healthcare sector. The proliferating OPD sessions and surgeries daily across the globe are anticipated to drive product demand within the healthcare sector.
It also added that Asia Pacific emerged as the largest market for disposable face masks in 2019, accounting for a market share of 33.7 per cent in the same year. Similarly, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, announced the government’s resolve to produce one million face masks, in the same month.
It's so sad that it took a horrifying pandemic to improve the lives of Nigerian citizens..