AfDB launches digital marketplace for fashion creators

17 Dec '19

2 min read

Pic: AFDB

The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Fashionomics Africa initiative last month launched a digital marketplace pilot—a website as well as an app—to help Africa’s fashion designers and textile professionals connect with global markets, with a focus on opportunities for women and young people. It is sponsored by the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance.

The launch took place on 25 November at the Global Gender Summit, a gathering of more than 1,500 representatives from multilateral development banks, finance institutions, governments and private sector leaders in Kigali, Rwanda.

“It is the first-ever B2B [Business-to-Business] and B2C [Business-to-Consumer] platform that has ever been created for, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that are working along this value chain,” Jennifer Blanke, the bank’s vice president for agriculture, human and social development, said at the launch.

“It is all really for connecting business to business, businesses to consumers and ensuring we are putting into place all we need to really transform the clothing and fashion industries in Africa,” she added.

The Fashionomics Africa digital marketplace and mobile app provides relevant market information, like market prices for textiles and clothing or listings of trade conferences, to increase transparency in the sector, according to a press release from the bank.

The aim is to connect suppliers, buyers, manufacturers and distributors to consumers and investors - to increase access and grow markets. To facilitate trade within Africa and worldwide, the digital marketplace and app operate through secure e-commerce and online payment systems.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)