LAGOS, Nigeria — One year after its signing, the African Fashion Industry Growth Charter has moved from a single Nigerian signature toward a continental instrument, the Confederation of African Fashion (CAFA) has said.

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‎CAFA President Aare Prof. Lai Labode made the announcement at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, Lagos, on the opening day of CANEX WKND 2026. The ceremony marked the first anniversary of the Charter, which Nigeria signed in Abuja on Nov. 5, 2025, becoming the first country in the world to do so.

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‎Labode said the gap in African fashion is structural, not creative.

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‎“Africa has 1.7 billion people, yet its fashion economy is about $60 billion against a potential of $500 billion, by CAFA’s estimates. 37 of Africa’s 54 countries grow cotton, yet the continent exports only $15.5 billion a year in textiles and imports $23.1 billion in textiles, clothing and footwear,” he said.

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‎He said those exports equal about 1% of a global apparel market worth roughly $1.9 trillion in 2026. Designers still lack recognised certification, production-scale factories and dedicated finance.

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‎“The world has never doubted Africa’s talent. It has simply never had to pay Africa for it. The Charter exists to change who gets paid,” he added.

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‎Nigeria signed the Charter through the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, under Minister Hannatu Musa Musawa. Labode thanked the Minister and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for their support.

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‎Musawa cut the tape to mark the anniversary and said she looks forward to the jobs CAFA will create.

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‎“For centuries, African fashion has told our stories, carried our identity and kept our heritage alive across generations. What it never had was structure,” she said. “When the Confederation of African Fashion brought us the Charter, we read it as an economic instrument, and we signed. A signature only matters if something follows it.”

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‎In East Africa, CAFA Rwanda operates from Kigali, and Rwanda is progressing toward becoming the second country globally, and the first in East Africa, to formalise participation. Conversations are also open with Liberia, and CAFA will hold sideline meetings with Ghana at CANEX WKND, where five to ten countries are expected to engage.

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‎Toward the African Union, the Charter is advancing through Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the aim of continental adoption and domestication across Africa.

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‎On industrial partnerships, Labode said CAFA’s engagements with Austria and Turkey centre on a central textile factory serving African countries, with international-standard production, global distribution, training and intellectual property protection. Some of the world’s largest textile companies have shown interest.

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‎Looking ahead, CAFA will pursue five tracks: seek AU recognition of the Charter as a continental framework; seek alignment with AfCFTA trade rules; engage Afreximbank and its Creative Africa Nexus programme on financing; work through ECOWAS, the EAC and other blocs to bring more states to signature; and convert the Austrian and Turkish engagements into shared factory capacity, training and intellectual property protection.

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‎“The measure of success is simple: more signatures, more African cloth made in Africa, and more of the value staying on the continent,” CAFA said.

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‎In 2028, the African Global Fashion Games will be hosted in Nigeria. Nations will compete under common rules across seven disciplines, testing design, craftsmanship, textile performance and innovation. The Games will run every three years, alternating between Africa and the rest of the world.

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‎CAFA’s stand at CANEX WKND 2026, running Nov. 5-8 at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, Lagos, carries the full Charter. Ambassadors, delegations and partners were invited to learn how their nations can take part.

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‎“Nigeria has opened this door. We invite the rest of Africa to walk through it with us,” Musawa said.