As African fashion continues to wow the world with its ingenuity, craftsmanship and unique ideas, a whole host of exciting young designers have also emerged from the continent charting their own path.
However, there exist a myriad of issues affecting them as with most businesses across Africa, especially in terms of capital and business support, which is why the Impact Fund For African Creatives in collaboration with the African Fashion Foundation in Ghana and implementing partner Seedstars has launched The African Fashion Futures Incubator to train 14 fashion designers who receive funding and the requisite resource in the fashion business.
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The incubator is set to equip new, up-and-coming fashion start-ups with the necessary skills and resources to create a brand founded on ethical principles in regard to people, place, and profit.
“The incubator aims to encourage peer learning and cultural exchange among its participants as well as to future-proof them and instil excellent operational and business foundations to ensure growth,” Onyinye Fafi Obi, Project Director of the African Fashion Foundation said in a press statement. “The programme also seeks to produce sustainable and financially viable enterprises. while honing the business capabilities of fashion designers.”
7 Ghanaian designers, 6 Nigerian designers and 1 Rwandan talent make up the list of trainees for the Fashion Incubator under AFF who will be leveraging their extensive experience in providing professional and educational developmental opportunities as the aggregator and incubator for the fashion designers and brands for the Impact Fund For African Creatives (IFFAC).
They include:
- Omafume Niemogha of Pepper Row (Nigeria)
- Travis Obeng-Casper of AJABENG (Ghana)
- Cynthia Otiyo-Abila of Cynthia Abila Studios (Nigeria)
- Jason Jermaine Asiedu of Jermaine Bleu (Ghana)
- Orire Aleshinloye of Oríré (Nigeria)
- Kusi Kubi of PALM WINE IceCREAM (Ghana)
- Ebuka Omaliko of Maliko (Nigeria)
- Kelvin Vincent of Anku Studio (Ghana)
- Abiola Adeniran-Olusola of Abiola Olusola (Nigeria)
- Jafaru Larry (Ghana
- Victor Anate of VICNATE (Nigeria)
- Nadia Eman Ibrahim of TABOu (Ghana)
- Aline Mukamusoni of AMIKE (Rwanda)
- George Tetteh of Atto Tetteh (Ghana)
“Since its inception, the African Fashion Foundation platform has driven professional and educational opportunities in partnership with established players to support the success of the African creative economy. This collaborative programme has been designed to help emerging designers in their infancy succeed by providing workspace, seed funding, mentoring, training and investment opportunities,” says Obi.
IFFAC will be investing in private small and medium-sized enterprises specializing in the creative, fashion, and lifestyle businesses and industries in Africa. The Fund aims to address a lack of capital and management skills in young brands.
Participants are set to take part in an exponential and transformative program over a 5-month incubation period to scale their ventures and enhance their value chains. Through a tried and tested methodology, the fashion designers will also receive hands-on support from industry experts across a global network as well as grant funding of up to $5 000 each and additional fundraising support.
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