Africa-Press – Namibia. THE African Development Bank (AfDB) is calling on fashion designers to partake in the second run of its Fashioneconomics Africa competition, which focuses on sustainable fashion.
Established to increase Africa’s participation in the global textile and fashion industry value chains, Fashioneconomics Africa will this year host the competition to reward creatives that are pursuing environmentally friendly measures, sustainability, and circular economy actions.
According to the bank, the competition will be held online, and up for grabs is US$6 000 in cash prizes, mentoring, new branding packages and other support.
The designer or design team submitting the best sustainable design will win US$3 000 along with other prizes. Two other competition finalists will take home US$1 500 each, plus other support, said the bank.
“The competition celebrates African fashion brands that will change how we produce, buy, use and recycle fashion, and that will encourage a more sustainable shift in consumer practices,” reads the statement from the AfDB.
The textile and fashion industry reportedly accounts for nearly 2% to 8% of global carbon emissions. The sector ranks as the world’s second-largest industrial polluter after the oil sector, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. However, this industry also provides important levels of employment, foreign-exchange revenue, and products essential to human welfare.
“Sustainability is the present, not the distant or even the near future. It is where we are now, and it is vital that we open our eyes to what the fashion industry already has to offer. By embracing the industry’s existing resources, we are promoting circularity at the most fundamental level,” said Amel Hamza, the acting director of the AfDB.
The bank said the competition targets textile, apparel, and accessories entrepreneurs from Africa, aged 18 years or older, who have launched fashion businesses (with up to a maximum of 50 employees), and whose sustainable designs have been produced within the last five years.
The bank said qualifying applicants will be required to submit pictures of their products, detail their sustainable business model, and explain how their start-up is environmentally friendly and innovative.
Examples of sustainability and circularity elements may include materials used, the design process, and cleaner or greener production processes, including shipping methods or ways to reduce a carbon footprint.
A five-person judging panel representing the AfDB and competition collaborators will announce the three finalists by 22 March. The application link is available on the African Development Bank’s website, and applications must be received by 1 March.
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