Connecting international companies
and African manufacturers

For various African countries, the growing textile and apparel (T&A) sector is a strategic industry in terms of export potential and job creation. Africa’s advantages in this sector have emerged clearly in the light of the challenging logistics of supply chains with traditional Asian manufacturing hubs, the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the recent legislative changes regarding due diligence in supply chains. As a result of these developments, smaller fashion brands, global players in the textile industry and, in particular, fashion brands interested in sustainable and ethical textile production are now showing increasing interest in Africa. The continent’s key draws are its relative proximity to European and US markets, the availability of local cotton that provides the potential for a complete sustainable vertical value chain, and the vibrant and creative local fashion scenes.

However, to harness the full potential of the T&A sector in African countries, a number of challenges must still be overcome. Key challenges faced by international fashion brands and retailers are the lack of detailed market information on local capacities and difficulties in accessing potential local partners. For small to medium-sized international fashion brands in particular, these challenges represent major barriers to entering African textile markets and, thus, hinder the employment-intensive growth of African manufacturers seeking to increase their exports. Another obstacle is that local T&A manufacturers do not always meet international companies’ requirements in terms of, for example, quality or sustainability certification.

This is where Africa FAN comes in. It addresses these challenges by bringing together different actors and supporting them in building long-term business relationships that will create more good jobs in African partner countries.

Africa FAN aims to create at least 600 good jobs in the T&A sector in Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco and Senegal. It focuses particularly on supporting the growing trend in sustainable and fair fashion production in Africa.

A further goal of Africa FAN is to strengthen cooperation between international and African companies and investors. To this end, it provides international sourcing managers of fashion brands with profiles of countries’ textile sectors and with company profiles of individual textile manufacturers. The company profiles include information on product types, production capacity, prior export experience and certification as well as information from audits. To give international fashion brands’ sourcing teams a chance to view production facilities in Africa without needing to travel, the Network also offers virtual tours of textile manufacturers’ factories.

The Network offers support to interested buyers with setting up site visits tailored to their own needs, where they can explore sourcing options in partner countries, engage directly with local T&A manufacturers and inspect production facilities and samples in person.

Africa FAN also strengthens capacities on the supplier side, providing local textile manufacturers with technical support on meeting the sustainability and quality requirements for certification by the Alliance for Product Quality in Africa.

Since its launch in 2021, Africa FAN has worked with more than 300 international fashion brands and retailers to understand their sourcing interests in and requirements of African suppliers. Detailed information on the production capacity, product categories, equipment and certification of more than 90 manufacturers in Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco and Senegal has been collected, prepared and made available to international sourcing managers of fashion brands. This database makes it possible to provide customised scouting services, manage the communication about product and pricing information, and facilitate the exchange of technical pack and samples. On the supplier side, a dedicated local support programme has been implemented in Ghana, focusing on production efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Through the Africa FAN network, textile samples were exchanged between Europe and Africa. The first successful business linkage resulted in the launch in April 2022 of a Franco-Ghanaian fashion line under the Panafrica brand, which includes organic cotton T-shirts, jackets and trousers. Looking ahead, Africa FAN will continue to build on its solid base of local information and relationships with international sourcing managers. 

Ghana and Senegal have been regional focal points since 2023. Existing activities are being expanded specifically to position Africa more firmly as an attractive sourcing destination. Targeted outreach measures are carried out to add interested companies from Germany, Europe and elsewhere to the Network and support companies in establishing long-term, sustainable procurement from Africa.

Africa FAN is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH within the framework of the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).