Huggies producer, Kimberly-Clark, exits Nigeria after 15 years
By Oluwaseyi Lawal
Kimberly-Clark, the manufacturer of Huggies baby diapers and products, has officially announced its intentions to exit Nigeria after 15 years.
Kimberly-Clark is the latest multinational company to withdraw from the Nigerian market due to the prevailing conditions in the country.
Having operated in Nigeria for approximately 15 years, the American multinational corporation announced its decision to cease production in a statement released on Friday.
The company explained that this decision aligns with its newly prioritized corporate objectives on a global scale and reflects the economic trends within Nigeria.
Kimberly-Clark today announces it has made the difficult decision to exit its business in Nigeria after almost 15 years, due to recently refocused company strategic priorities globally as well as economic developments in the country,” the company said.
“Kimberly-Clark will close its manufacturing facility and commercial office in Lagos and will no longer manufacture, market, or sell its Huggies and Kotex products in the country.”
The company stated that its primary focus will be on meeting its obligations and ensuring that employees and partners are “treated with fairness and respect.”
In 2022, Kimberly-Clark launched a factory valued at over $100 million in Lagos’s Ikorodu area.
Kimberly-Clark commenced operations in Nigeria in 2012 but halted after five years in 2019 due to unfavorable economic conditions, resuming again in 2021.
The company manufactures Huggies diapers, sanitary pads, Kotex, and other hygiene and personal care products. Kimberly-Clark is a publicly traded multinational on the New York Stock Exchange, with the majority of its shares owned by institutional investors such as Blackrock Inc., Vanguard Group, and Morgan Stanley.
This withdrawal is the latest in a string of recent high-profile exits of multinational companies from Nigeria.
In August 2023, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Nigeria Plc announced its plan to cease operations and transfer its business activities to a third-party organization. In November 2023, the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis Nigeria Limited also suspended its direct operations in the country.
By December 2023, Procter & Gamble (P&G), an American multinational consumer goods corporation, announced plans to shift from local production to exclusively importing its products.
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