Powerful Dialogue on Africa’s Textile Future

This week’s Texpertise & Allfashion Sourcing Networking Functions, hosted in Cape Town (20 May) and Johannesburg (22 May), brought together a powerful coalition of textile and fashion stakeholders from across South Africa and beyond. Organised by Messe Frankfurt South Africa and supported by the global Texpertise Network of Messe Frankfurt, the events form a strategic lead-up to the Allfashion Sourcing (AFS) 2025 trade show, taking place from 8–10 July 2025 at the CTICC 1 in Cape Town.

Positioned as an industry thought leader, Allfashion Sourcing continues to provide a critical knowledge-sharing platform for the textiles, clothing, and fashion sectors in Southern Africa. Through these pre-show networking events, Allfashion Sourcing is fostering meaningful dialogue around sustainability, inclusivity, trade opportunities, and regional competitiveness, delivering insightful content that sets the tone for the July exhibition.

CAPE TOWN NETWORKING FUNCTION – KEY INSIGHTS

The Cape Town function welcomed four keynote speakers:

• Jean Scheltema – Chief Commercial & Trade Officer WESGRO
• Courtney Grant – Cape Town Clothing and Textile Cluster (CCTC)
• Michael Lawrence – Executive Director National Clothing Retail Federation (NCRF)
• Olaf Schmidt – Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies Messe Frankfurt

“A pivotal platform to link Southern Africa trade,” said Jean Scheltema. “Collaboration never goes out of style.”

Courtney Grant outlined CTCC’s impact: 27,000 jobs created, 80% held by women and women of colour, underscoring the cluster’s role in local competitiveness and its 20-year milestone.

“Demand is there if the price is right,” she said, advocating for ecosystem facilitation to unlock inclusive value chain transformation.

“Africa is an opportunity… but our planning doesn’t yet reflect that,” said Michael Lawrence, calling for deeper integration of green economy strategies, support for SMEs, and a broader view of trade in services, especially retail.

“We are in Africa because it is a dynamic market and we believe in building a more sustainable future here,” added Olaf Schmidt.

JOHANNESBURG NETWORKING FUNCTION – 22 MAY 2025

The Johannesburg event continued the momentum, with addresses from:

• Mark Goliath – Acting Divisional Executive for Manufacturing IDC
• Eustace Mashimbye – CEO Proudly South African
• Jenny Marie Tala – Director Southern Africa Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI)
• Olaf Schmidt, Messe Frankfurt – Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies Messe Frankfurt

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES AMIDST AGOA AND US TARIFFS UNCERTAINTY

Jenny Tala highlighted critical data, noting that apparel and textiles account for 1.2% of South Africa’s exports, with the US being the second most important export market. Under the African Growth and Opportunity ACT (AGOA), 17% of South Africa’s textiles and apparel enter the US duty-free, yet recent US tariffs, 25% on steel, aluminium and vehicles since April 2025 and a 10% baseline tariff pose challenges. These tariffs risk slower economic growth, declining competitiveness, and job losses in South Africa. GTAI advocates for diversifying export markets, strategic investments in local industries and renewing AGOA to mitigate these impacts.

Eustace Mashimbye, CEO of Proudly South African, reinforced the urgent need to localise procurement and support South African-made products. He elaborated on Proudly SA’s numerous interventions, including campaigns like Local Fashion Police, the Buy Local Summit, retail programmes, e-commerce strategies, and collaborative events with STADIO and young designers. These initiatives underline the importance of fashion in economic growth.

“Proudly SA, as the national Buy Local campaign, continues to advocate for the buying of locally made products and services, and the clothing and textiles industry is one that we continue to focus on, because of its labour-intensive nature. We continue to roll out consumer education campaigns to educate the masses to choose locally made products and services, when making purchasing decisions, to check country-of-origin labels when buying and to choose products made in SA, in support of our domestic industry, to retain existing jobs and create much needed new job opportunities. In addition to this, we continue to create market access platforms and opportunities for local producers.” Eustace Mashimbye. Mark Goliath of the IDC echoed that by stating that “The opportunities for regional trade outweigh the associated risks.”

Michael Dehn, Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt South Africa summarized the two networking events as well as the factory visits: “Our networking events in Cape Town and Johannesburg highlighted the global connectivity of the South African market as well as the vibrancy and value it offers. South Africa adds color and creativity that is unique and that truly came alive at the discussions. And while the price competition can be demanding, the South African textile sector has every right to be highly confident in the value it adds to the fashion sector, both in terms of originality as well as in terms of quality.

The delegation also was invited to two factory visits, K-way in Cape Town as well as Aranda Textile Mills in Randfontein, which allowed impressive insights into concept-to-market strategies of the mannufacturers and their visions for a sustainable and genuine textile production in the country”.

LOOKING AHEAD TO ALLFASHION SOURCING 2025 – 8–10 JULY 2025

As the premier marketplace for the global textile and fashion community, Allfashion Sourcing 2025 promises an even more dynamic exhibition under the theme of African sustainability and innovation. Highlights include:

• 100+ exhibitors across: Textiles, fabrics, yarns; Leather goods, fasteners, finishers; Home textiles, finished garments; Sustainable design and circular fashion
• Daily Exhibitor Fashion Shows
• Thought-leading panels on trade, green manufacturing, supplier development and digital futures
• The renowned Young Designer Competition, themed “Creativity Through the Lens of Africa”, with prizes worth over R270,000 – including a R15,000 cash prize and a Legal Business Toolkit valued at R250,000m sponsored by ENS. This competition celebrates craftsmanship, eco-conscious design, and African storytelling, offering emerging designers a transformative platform.

As Messe Frankfurt South Africa continues to champion industry development, this week’s engagements reflect a collaborative energy that will define Allfashion Sourcing 2025 not only as a trade fair, but as a catalyst for Africa’s textile & fashion future.