Funocurls Green Beauty founder and managing director Lufuno Nemakonde displays the company’s range of plant-based beauty products. Photo Credit: DTI

NNA News - South Africa is funding a project to produce hairpieces using banana plant fibre in the Limpopo province. The initiative aims to enhance rural manufacturing and generate employment opportunities.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTI) announced on Tuesday that Funocurls Green Beauty has been approved for funding. The funding is provided under the Grassroots Innovation Facilitation Scheme, which is designed to support businesses in rural and township areas.

In Thohoyandou, Lufuno Nemakonde, the founder and managing director of Funocurls Green Beauty, is developing EcoCurls, a hairpiece made from fibre extracted from the pseudostem of the banana plant. “EcoCurls are plant-based and potentially a more sustainable alternative to conventional synthetic hairpieces,” Nemakonde explained. The product is in the development and validation stage. According to Nemakonde, the hairpiece has been submitted to the South African Bureau of Standards for independent testing. To scale up her business, she has already leased factory space in Punda Maria-Makhuvha village. 

She is currently waiting for the delivery of specialised machinery to process the fibres. She explained that she had to sit down with the engineers and painstakingly describe the types of machines needed. That would help her achieve her dream. “I am confident that we will come up with something that will turn this place into a successful production plant, manufacturing environmentally friendly hairpieces from the banana plants that are abundant in our area and creating job opportunities in the process.”

Employees of Funocurls Green Beauty display plant-based hair fibres developed by the Limpopo-based company. Photo Credit: DTI

The department added in its statement that the project would reduce reliance on imported synthetic hair and add value to agricultural waste. Bananas are widely grown in northern Limpopo. The EcoCurls project builds on Nemakonde's existing work in plant-based beauty products. She trained as a medical technologist and says she combined that background with herbal knowledge she gained from her grandmother to start Funocurls Green Beauty in 2019.

The company now produces plant-based hair, skin and body products using moringa, marula, baobab and Kalahari melon. It supplies local salons and offers contract manufacturing services. “That is how Funocurls Green Beauty was born,” Nemakonde said. She explained that local customers, beauty parlours, and hair salons purchase the products. The company also provides contract and private-label manufacturing services.

Funocurls Green Beauty founder Lufuno Nemakonde demonstrates the processing of banana plant fibre for the development of EcoCurls hairpieces. Photo Credit: DTI

With support from the DTI, she has exhibited at trade fairs in Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. The department said South Africa currently imports the majority of its synthetic hair, creating an opportunity for locally produced alternatives such as EcoCurls. The project could help the company capture a portion of that market, create jobs, and add value to agricultural waste in rural Limpopo.