Browsing: The Fashionomics Africa initiative

Fashion business in Africa is booming
  • Over 180 works of fashion from 40 designers drawn from across 20 countries in Africa are currently exhibiting in Brooklyn, New York.
  • The Africa Fashion is celebrating works by iconic designers and artists from Nigerian Shade Thomas-Fahn, Ghana’s Kofi Ansah, South African Thebe Magugu and Djibouti’s Gouled Ahmed.
  • South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco and Kenya boast of a dynamic local fashion scene setting trends in African fashion.

Africa’s dynamic and lucrative fashion industry has taken center stage at the Brooklyn Museum in New York in the ongoing ‘Africa Fashion’ display that ends on Sunday, 22nd October 2023.

The landmark event has been hailed as the largest presentation of African fashion. It involves more than 180 works from over 40 designers drawn from 20 countries in the continent. Africa Fashion celebrates works by iconic designers and artists. Some of the industry’s icons are Nigerian Shade Thomas-Fahn, Ghana’s Kofi Ansah to …

The African fashion industry is hanging on by a thread and stitch, as it continues to suffer plummeting revenues in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, swiftly thrusting it into economic distress. According to the research group Euromonitor, the apparel and footwear industry is cumulatively estimated to be worth $31 billion. However, the vibrant industry is teetering on the edge of a precipice, with a plethora of challenges that have brewed up a storm, with rippling effects across the supply chain due to its interconnected nature. Covid-19 has just stirred up a hornets’ nest in the industry that was already on high alert. 

Prior to the pandemic, the fashion industry was generating $2.5 trillion in global annual revenues, but is set to contract by 27 to 30% in 2020, based on a joint report dubbed ‘The State of Fashion 2020, Coronavirus update’

Digital marketplace for the Africa’s fashion creators

The African Development Bank’s flagship initiative, Fashionomics Africa launched the pilot phase of a digital marketplace to help Africa’s fashion designers, textile and accessories professionals connect with global markets.

The launch took place at the Global Gender Summit, attended by more than 1,500 representatives from multilateral development banks, financial institutions, governments and private sector leaders in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Fashionomics Africa digital marketplace website and mobile app is sponsored by the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance. It is the latest innovation from Fashionomics Africa, a platform which enables African entrepreneurs from the textile, apparel and accessories industries to create and grow their businesses, with a focus on opportunities for women and young people.

“It is the first-ever B2B (Business-to-Business) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) platform that has ever been created for, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that are working along this value chain,” said Dr. Jennifer Blanke, the Bank’s …