Prime Highlights-
- Afreximbank brings African fashion to global buyers at CANEX WKND in Lagos, backed by a $2 billion creative industries initiative.
- CANEX aims to turn African fashion into a globally competitive export, with Africa holding wide room to grow its global market share.
Key Facts-
- Zimbabwe’s Vanhu Vamwe now sells in over 50 stores worldwide and employs more than 150 women.
- Afreximbank will launch the Pan-African Fashion Alliance to link African, Caribbean, and diaspora designers.
Background-
Afreximbank will bring African fashion to global buyers at CANEX WKND in Lagos, a trade platform that aims to open markets, scale production and create commercial opportunity for designers.
The event, themed Where African design meets global markets, links African and Africa-inspired designers with buyers, retailers and industry stakeholders through curated exhibitions, showcases and export-focused programs.
The bank backs the push through its Creative Africa Nexus initiative, known as CANEX, which holds $2 billion to support fashion, sport, film, music, literature, gastronomy, and arts, crafts and design.
Khanyi Mashimbye, manager of creative and cultural industries at Afreximbank, said global fashion revenues top $881 billion and could reach $1.8 trillion by 2029, keeping demand strong. She added that 37 African countries grow cotton, and Ethiopia, Kenya and Lesotho already export garments worldwide.
Africa also holds wide room to grow its share of the global fashion market, which sits below 2% today, and CANEX aims to turn African fashion into a globally competitive export. Mashimbye said the world is ready for African products.
CANEX partnerships with Galeries Lafayette, Portugal Fashion Week, Tranoï Paris and Tranoï Tokyo have already helped African designers win buyers. Zimbabwean luxury accessories brand Vanhu Vamwe now sells in over 50 stores worldwide and has grown its team from 20 to more than 150 women.
It lobbies for stronger intellectual property protection, builds a uniform African sizing chart, and will launch the Pan-African Fashion Alliance to link designers and producers.
