Browsing: The Fashionomics Africa initiative

Fashionomicsafrica (AfDB)- The exchange

C-19 Pandemic: The fashion industry’s black swan event

African Entrepreneurship

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’

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Digital marketplace for the Africa’s fashion creators

Industry and Trade

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 …