Nigeria's Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, has urged African countries to move beyond celebrating the continent's fashion creativity and instead build the industrial structures, manufacturing capacity and policy frameworks needed to make textiles a major source of employment, investment and economic growth. Musawa made the call on Thursday in Lagos during the first anniversary of the African Fashion Industry Growth Charter, organised by the Confederation of African Fashion. Nigeria became the first country to sign the Charter on November 5, 2025, according to a statement by her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Nneka Anibeze.
The Charter is designed to provide a policy framework for developing Africa's fashion and textile industry through improved production standards, investment, certification and protection of intellectual property. The continent's fashion industry is currently estimated to be worth $60 billion, despite having the potential to generate about $500 billion, according to the Confederation of African Fashion. The gap reflects inadequate manufacturing infrastructure, limited access to financing, a lack of recognised professional certification and the continent's dependence on imported finished textile products. Although 37 of Africa's 54 countries grow cotton, the continent exports only $15.5 billion a year in textiles while importing $23.1 billion in textiles, clothing and footwear, the organisation said.
Aare Prof. Lai Labode, CAFA President, said African designers still lack recognised certification, production-scale factories and dedicated finance, adding that the continent sells raw materials and buys finished products. He disclosed that Rwanda was making progress towards becoming the second country to formalise its participation in the Charter and the first in East Africa, while discussions were ongoing with Liberia and Ghana. CAFA is pursuing partnerships with Austria and Turkey to establish a central textile factory to serve African countries, which would provide international-standard production, global distribution, training and intellectual property protection for African designers.
Nigeria will host the African Global Fashion Games in 2028, a competition featuring seven disciplines covering design, craftsmanship, textile performance and innovation. The Games will be held every three years and alternate between Africa and other parts of the world, bringing together designers, investors, manufacturers and governments. CAFA is also working with the African Union Commission, the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, the African Export-Import Bank and regional economic communities to expand the Charter's reach and align certification and production standards with continental trade rules.
For businesses in Nigeria's fashion sector, this means potential access to standardised production frameworks, improved export pathways across Africa and structured financing opportunities through the continent's development banks. The broader push reflects efforts across Africa's creative economy to address structural challenges limiting the commercialisation of cultural and creative products, with the Afreximbank and African Union identifying limited finance access, weak intellectual property protection, fragmented markets and infrastructure deficits as major constraints.