AFC partners with Lagos Fashion Week 2025 to boost creative economy

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, has announced its partnership with Lagos Fashion Week 2025, underscoring its commitment to empowering Africa’s youth and creative industries, as engines for inclusive economic growth.

Africa’s apparel and textile exports is projected to reach $15 billion by 2030. As a key partner, AFC will support Lagos Fashion Week 2025 in advancing Africa’s creative economy, one of the continent’s fastest-growing sectors, by promoting sustainable production, local manufacturing, and value addition within the fashion and textiles value chain.

This collaboration builds on AFC’s broader mandate to drive industrialisation and job creation through strategic investments in critical infrastructure that transforms economies. Through its investee company ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP), AFC is facilitating Africa’s transition from being primarily an exporter of raw materials to a producer and exporter of finished goods.

The Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) in Benin Republic hosts world-class textile factories where African cotton is processed into finished garments and exported to leading global retailers, including The Children’s Store in the United States. This transformational project is creating thousands of skilled jobs for local youth and stands as a model of sustainability in textiles manufacturing with the use of 100% sustainably sourced cotton running exclusively on renewable energy and recycling up to 95% of its water.

ALSO READ: OLD MUTUAL GHANA REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO CLIENT SUPPORT

“Africa’s creative industries embody both our cultural pride and our economic promise. Through this partnership with Lagos Fashion Week 2025, we are advancing AFC’s commitment to turn that promise into measurable impact—supporting the full fashion value chain to empower the youth, strengthen local manufacturing, and drive value addition on the continent,” said Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of AFC. “By building critical infrastructure that underpins these creative value chains, AFC is ensuring that Africa’s designers and manufacturers can compete on a truly global stage,” he added.

Now in its 15th year, Lagos Fashion Week has become a globally recognised platform showcasing African design excellence and creativity. The 2025 edition will spotlight circular fashion, responsible sourcing, and regional value chains, areas where AFC’s infrastructure investments are helping bridge Africa’s creative and industrial potential.

Omoyemi Akerele, Founder of Lagos Fashion Week, said: “We are pleased to welcome AFC as a key partner for Lagos Fashion Week 2025. Their commitment to advancing sustainable infrastructure and local manufacturing aligns with our mission to strengthen the foundations of Africa’s fashion ecosystem and foster meaningful leadership in financing sustainable infrastructure and manufacturing aligns perfectly with our vision for a future where Africa’s creative industries not only inspire but also produce and export value from within the continent.”

AFC’s partnership with Lagos Fashion Week 2025 follows similar collaborations across Africa’s creative landscape, including its +234Art Fair partnership with Ecobank, reflecting a continued commitment to supporting the continent’s young entrepreneurs, innovators, and artists who are redefining Africa’s global narrative. Collectively, AFC-backed projects have to date added over US$50 billion to GDP and supported the creation of 7 million jobs across 36 countries on the continent.