COnference speakers

As the hygiene industry accelerates toward circularity, Africa offers a compelling blueprint for sustainable innovation. In this session, Raymond Chimhandamba, a thought leader in nonwovens and founder of Handas Consulting, explores how African innovators are pioneering biobased materials and waste recovery models that challenge conventional norms.

Drawing from field insights and industry collaborations, Raymond will spotlight the use of locally sourced biodegradable fibers—such as banana and sugarcane bagasse—in absorbent hygiene products.

Africa is home to over 1.4 billion people, rising middle-class demand for hygiene products, and vast untapped agricultural waste resources. Yet the continent remains largely absent from global hygiene product supply chains — both as a supplier of sustainable raw materials and a manufacturer of finished products.

This presentation highlights Africa’s emerging role as a strategic growth zone for the hygiene industry. It will explore the continent’s potential to supply bio-based feedstocks such as pineapple leaf fiber (PALF), cotton stalks, and sugarcane bagasse: to recycle flexible polypropylene (PP) and nonwoven materials at scale; and to serve as a regional converting and export hub for both domestic and international markets.

We will examine examples from countries like Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Nigeria where investment in hygiene manufacturing and recycling infrastructure is taking off — and explore what it would take to unlock this opportunity at scale. The session will also cover policy frameworks like AfCFTA and EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements, which make Africa more competitive for nearshoring.

Africa is not just a market — it is a partner in building a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient hygiene supply chain for the future.

Examples include:

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GentiShe (South Africa) – biodegradable pads and menstrual cups tailored to African anatomies

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Palesa Pads (South Africa) – reusable period care tackling period poverty

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Banapads (Uganda and Tanzania) – sanitary pads made from banana pseudostem waste