Core Fashion Kenya supported by the UN Economic Commission for Africa – ECA hosted its Fashion Roundtable and Fashion Sourcing Tour during The Hub of Africa Fashion Week on Thursday January 15th at The Addis Ababa House of Culture, bringing together some of the most influential voices shaping the future of African fashion. The convening underscored a shared commitment to collaboration, transparency, and strategic growth across the continent’s fashion value chain—at a pivotal moment for an industry valued at $31 billion.
The Fashion Sourcing Tour, which took place from 13-16th January welcomed designers and industry leaders including Ejiro, Ugo Monye, and Tumi Buys, offering firsthand engagement with East Africa’s manufacturing, artisan, and sourcing ecosystems. The initiative aimed to unlock cross-border opportunities while strengthening intra-African supply chains.
The Roundtable Discussion, in collaboration with ECA, assembled an exceptional group of leaders and practitioners, including Tumi Buys, Waridi Schrobsdorff, Sheila Kingori, Shaldon Kopman, Ejiro Tafiri, Lydia Steele, Nursema Cil, Mahlet Teklemariam, and Mastewal Alemu. Together, they tackled the urgent structural and strategic questions facing African fashion as it scales globally.
A Call for Transparency, Quality, and Collective Action
Central to the conversation was the need for greater transparency in pricing, sourcing, and quality standards—a prerequisite for attracting global buyers, investors, and partners. Participants emphasized that African brands must invest not only in design excellence but also in high-quality media, photography, and storytelling to compete on the world stage.
Manufacturing challenges—including high minimum order quantities, infrastructure limitations, and access to reliable power and water—were discussed candidly. Rather than viewing these as barriers, the group stressed the need for audacity, innovation, and collaboration to design African-led solutions.
Designers Expanding Across Borders
A Lagos-based designer, Ugo Monye shared plans to expand operations into Kenya, Ethiopia and various African countries leveraging traditional African materials to promote cultural heritage across markets—while navigating workforce and sourcing complexities. Meanwhile, Mastewal Alemu, a leading high-end Ethiopian fashion house outlined its strategy to scale production, improve quality control, addressing long-standing gaps in skills development, capital access, and market demand.
Building Infrastructure for the Future
The Roundtable highlighted logistics and sustainability innovations, including on-going engagements with airline partners aimed at reducing shipping costs while improving speed and reliability for international transport to global fashion hubs such as Italy.
Strategic initiatives discussed include:
- A pan-African campaign to collectively promote African fashion brands.
- A rebranding and expansion roadmap toward 2027.
- The creation of a showroom platform for African designers.
- Developing a continental directory of manufacturers and collaborators.
- Exploring a membership model to support sustainable collaboration and knowledge exchange.
From Dialogue to Action
Linda Murithi, Founder of The Core Roundtable talks concluded the session with a clear mandate: “move decisively from conversation to execution.”
Action points include testing a collective production and logistics model by August 2026, engaging African buyers and stockists, deepening partnerships with international brands, and organizing workshops focused on mentorship, business sustainability, and stakeholder engagement.
Future plans also include The Core Fashion Sourcing Tours in Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa, reinforcing Core Fashion Kenya’s commitment to strengthening South–South collaboration within Africa.
For her part, Mercy Wambui, ECA’s Communication Head, welcomed the roundtable initiative and the sourcing tours, noting that Africa’s demographic dividend “will depend on the continent getting its job market right for the millions of young creatives needing spaces to connect and make money from their creations right here in Africa.”
“The AfCFTA is an opportunity waiting to be seized by African creatives,” she added.
Africa Fact: By 2060, the African middle class is expected to reach 1.1 billion people.
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