More importantly, we observed significant overlap and duplication of functions between tailors/manufacturers and brands/designers. They are enlisted by the customer to coordinate the suppliers, tailors, and designers to ensure timely and quality delivery. That is still yet to transition to the implementation stage.Ĭonversely, we noted the emergence of the “striker” who function as middle-men. Vlisco, the bright spot in this space, spoke about setting up a factory in Nigeria in 2017. We noted crucially that fabric manufacturers and designers were marginal, substituted by suppliers, who import mainly from Asia. We identified six core players in the Nigerian fashion space, spanning garment design and conception to consumption. We found this crucial for the accumulation of experience and efficiency from specialization. However, these findings validate our assertions about the boundless opportunities across the chain.įirst, we dissected specialization, comparing the specificity of functions in the Nigerian fashion industry to global standards. Our findings have been convoluted relative to the scale of the businesses trying to solve them. In uncovering solutions, I worked with Lanre Shonoiki and Michael Adesanya on a thorough analysis of the Nigerian fashion value chain, piecing together all the information we’ve gathered through a series of independent field trips from March 2017 to June 2019. At best, Africa would become a global powerhouse for desirable fashion.ĭeconstructing the Nigerian Fashion Business At the very least, we would be solving the problems of sustainability from first principles, without the legacy problems of the global fast fashion machinery. For the ecosystem to bloom we need to build homegrown solutions to the problems in the African fashion ecosystem. To gain any real influence and scale, we must begin to consolidate and plug leakages in our domestic value chain. “As both a source of production and a consumer market, Africa is poorly integrated into the global fashion system, leading to lost business opportunity.” In agreement, Robb Young opened his 2015 article on Business of Fashion with this quote. However, it is beyond question, businesses and the broader industry must participate in the global scene to scale, optimize and sustain. At this structure and scale, local fashion businesses will continue to struggle well below the threshold of global competition. The fashion ecosystem is hugely fragmented, comprising small/medium businesses, which are poorly specialized and hardly evolved in technology. Yet like with her other potentials, African fashion is stifled by inefficiencies. With the rising wage rates in Asia pushing up costs, an expanding global population of African and Afro-Descendant consumers and the scaling potential offered by the internet, opportunities abound.
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