Lagos, Nigeria, October 23, 2018 –BASF expands its presence in the personal care industry in sub-Saharan Africa. The company strengthens its network of local expertise in marketing, research and sales and announced the official opening of a state-of-the-art application laboratory in Nigeria at the beginning of 2019. “The sub-Saharan African personal care market is growing fast and holds great potential. With our increased presence in the region, we can be more responsive to the market and serve individual customer needs. Being close to our customers, we aim to become their preferred partner for personal care in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dirk Mampe, Vice President Personal Care Solutions Europe.;

Strengthened network of local expertise

The application laboratory for personal care will be an integral part of BASF’s new regional headquarter for West Africa which was officially commissioned today. Located in Nigeria, one of the fastest growing beauty markets in the region, the laboratory will serve the needs of the personal care industry across all countries in sub-Saharan Africa. With the establishment of local competence in application and formulation technology, BASF intends to broaden its technical service for Ethnic African hair and skin care applications. At the same time, BASF strengthens its local Page 2 P352/18e sales force and its network of distributors. With a synergistic service approach comprising application technology, marketing and sales, BASF will increase its agility and responsiveness towards the market.

About BASF’s Care Chemicals division

The BASF division Care Chemicals offers a broad range of ingredients for hygiene, personal care, home care, industrial & institutional cleaning, and technical applications. We are the global leading supplier for the cosmetics industry as well as the detergents and cleaners industry and support our customers with innovative and sustainable products, solutions and concepts. The division’s high-performance product portfolio includes surfactants, emulsifiers, polymers, emollients, chelating agents, cosmetic active ingredients, pigments and UV filters. Superabsorbent polymers developed for the full spectrum of hygiene applications complete the range. We have production and development sites in all regions and are expanding our presence in emerging markets. Further information is available on the Internet at www.care-chemicals.basf.com.

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The more than 115,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of €64.5 billion in 2017. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.