Nigerian doll created by Taofik Okoya now outselling Barbie

Nigerian entrepreneur, Taofik Okoya, has created Nigerian dolls that are outselling the Barbie doll, the UK Daily Mail is reporting.

The paper said according to Reuters, 9,000 units of the £4.50 (N1,280) dolls are sold per month, taking up 15 per cent of Nigeria’s toy market.

A Barbie doll on online store, Jumia, retails at almost N10,000.

Taofik, who is the son of industrialist and owner of Eleganza, Razak Okoya, named his line of dolls the Queens of Africa. The dark complexioned dolls are styled in clothes unique to different ethnic group in Nigeria so that children can relate to them.

According to the Daily Mail, Mr. Okoya decided to make the dolls after he set out to buy a black doll for his niece but could not find any.

The dolls, which are also sold online, have found buyers not only in Nigeria but in America, Brazil and Europe.

In an interview with Elle Magazine, Mr Okoya said “My mission is to make the Queens of Africa a symbol of hope, trust, and confidence by promoting African history, culture, and fashion.”

However, Mr. Okoya, who has been trying to market his dolls in American stores, has been told he can sell them only in specialist stores and not larger department stores but he remains undeterred.