Aya Care’s Sudden Fame

After going viral on social media, the women-led team at sanitary pad provider, Aya Care, found themselves at the centre of a renewed discussion about menstrual hygiene in Nigeria. What did this attention mean for their future growth?

It was January 2024 in Lagos, Nigeria, and TikTok creator, Tamara, had just gotten an idea for a new TikTok series—she would test and review sanitary pads for research and educational purposes. She had previously heard about Aya Care pads, a relatively new local brand, so she decided to give them a try. When she was sure she loved the feel as much as she loved the look—packaged in a yellow and purple cardboard box with an artwork of a Black woman—she shared a quick video.

Tamara could never have anticipated the video’s reach. A friend notified her that the video had gone viral; she had created a trending topic on X (formerly Twitter). The site was on fire with Aya as a buzzword. Just like Tamara, many users thought the pad’s length, thinness and wings were revolutionary finds in the Nigerian sanitary pad market. Suddenly, there was a top dog, and everyone wanted their hands on Aya Care’s pads.

Aya Care is the brainchild of Canadian entrepreneur, Adriana Lica, and Nigerian businesswoman, Inya Ajanaku. It was founded in 2020 from a conversation the two shared on period health in Nigeria. Ajanaku lamented about the lack of affordability for sanitary products and Lica was concerned about the quality of the products on the market. The latter explained that there was a ‘huge gap in quality’ in the Nigerian period market, so the brand was ‘built out of a personal need’. 

Aya Care began operations in 2022 and officially launched in July 2023, distributing to different stores and supermarkets. It brands itself as making ‘confident and comfortable period products that care’. This tagline influenced the making of their pads which are thinner and longer than other pads with wings that keep the pad in place. 

So far, Aya Care has made a user-friendly product, filling a gap in feminine hygiene products. As of 2022, according to the Sanitation & Hygiene Fund, Nigeria’s menstrual hygiene market was valued at around $371 million (N459 billion at the official rate as of writing), with sanitary pads alone accounting for nearly $369 million (N456.8 billion); but with the menstrual hygiene market in Nigeria constrained by low consumer spending, limited access to products and continuous stigma, how far can Aya Care really go?