Africa’s fashion industry is growing to meet global demands: UNESCO

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A UNESCO report released during Lagos Fashion Week notes Africa’s fashion industry is growing rapidly to meet demand but that inadequate investment still limits its potential

ABUJA, Nigeria — Africa’s fashion industry is growing rapidly to meet local and international demand but inadequate investment limits its potential, UNESCO said Thursday in a report released during Lagos Fashion Week.

Currently valued at $15.5 billion worth of exports annually, the earnings from the continent's fashion industry could triple over a decade with the right investment and infrastructure, according to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, who launched the organization’s first report on fashion in Africa in Nigeria’s economic hub of Lagos.

With a young population of 1.3 billion people set to double by 2050, the continent’s fashion industry has also proven to be both “a powerful lever for the promotion of cultural diversity (and) also a way to empower young people and women,” said Azoulay.

Across the continent, fashion continues to grow on various fronts – including in movies and films – in the form of textiles, garments as well as accessories and fine crafts, all with a long history of prestige and symbolic of the African culture.

The demand for African fashion brands is also spurred by the growth in e-commerce, the UNESCO report noted.

Africa leads mobile device web traffic in the world, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration. That has opened more market opportunities such that across Nigeria, for instance, young people on social media are steadily opening fashion brands.

“Africans want to wear Africa. It’s really beautiful to see because it hasn’t always been like this,” said Omoyemi Akerele, who founded the Lagos