Deadline: 22-Feb-23

The African Development Bank’s Fashionomics Africa Call for Applications is seeking for African Fashion, Textile, Apparel and Accessories entrepreneurs and businesses to apply and benefit from the Fashionomics Africa Online Incubator and Accelerator Programs.

The programs will run for 8-weeks each and the content will be available in English, French, Arabic, and Portuguese. Through a competitive process, the top fashion entrepreneurs will be invited to pitch their business ideas at the online Fashionomics Africa pitching days competitions. The programs will culminate to 12 selected finalists each from the incubator and accelerator programs vying for the top 2 prizes for 20,000 USD each to scale up their operations.

Fashionomics Africa is an initiative of the African Development Bank that aims at increasing Africa’s participation in the global textile, apparel, and accessories value chains. The objective is to support the growth of micro-small and medium-sized enterprises that dominate this industry, equipping them with the necessary business skills, financial acumen, access to markets, market intelligence, and financing opportunities to scale up their businesses in an increasingly digitalized economy.

The initiative is launching the Fashionomics Africa incubator and accelerator programs to build sustainable business models and access financing opportunities. The curriculum and content will be structured in separated incubator and accelerator programs, focused on improving the marketability of early stage (incubator) and growth-oriented start-ups (accelerator) to financiers through an emphasis on strengthening business and financial models, investment readiness, branding, marketing, digitization, sustainability and circular economy actions applied to the industry, and outlining preparations for the capital raising process through detailed coursework on entrepreneurial finance.

Expectations from Participants

• By participating in this Fashionomics Africa incubator program, participants are expected to:
  • Grant to Fashionomics Africa and its partners the right to use their personal information provided when submitting their application for the purpose of administering the incubator program, including but not limited to contacting and announcing the selected candidates and coordinating the provision of the incubator contest prize.
  • Grant to Fashionomics Africa and its partners the right to use their personal information for publicity and promotional purposes. Fashionomics Africa nor its partners are not responsible for copyrights when exposing the work in a public way.
  • The Eyecity/IMPACT Lab Consortium is the contracted party to manage and implement the Fashionomics Africa Online incubator program.
  • You acknowledge and agree that nothing on the training platform, expressly or implicitly, by estoppel or otherwise, grants any right or license to use any of the African Development Bank (AfDB) intellectual property.
  • The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the training material belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual, or the African Development Bank (AfDB).
  • You will be required to complete and attend the entire program to be eligible for the Fashionomics Africa pitching days competition.
• By participating in this Fashionomics Africa accelerator program participants are expected to:
  • Grant to Fashionomics Africa and its partners the right to use their personal information provided when submitting their application for the purpose of administering the accelerator program, including but not limited to contacting and announcing the selected candidates and coordinating the provision of the accelerator contest prize.
  • Grant to Fashionomics Africa and its partners the right to use their personal information for publicity and promotional purposes. Fashionomics Africa nor its partners are not responsible for copyrights when exposing the work in a public way.
  • The CoCreation Hub is the contracted party to manage and implement the Fashionomics Africa accelerator program.
  • You acknowledge and agree that nothing on the training platform, expressly or implicitly, by estoppel or otherwise, grants any right or license to use any of the African Development Bank (AfDB) intellectual property.
  • The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the training material belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual, or the African Development Bank (AfDB).
  • You will be required to complete and attend the entire program to be eligible for the Fashionomics Africa pitching days competition.

Eligibility Criteria

• The competition is open to participants who can provide an identification document like a passport, national ID card or voters card issued in an African country, and/or domiciled in African countries.
• Applicants should be 18 years of age and above. Priority will be given to youth (18-35) and women-led fashion businesses.
• Any fashion micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) or fashion entrepreneurs operating in the fashion ecosystem, including but not limited to fashion designing and dressmaking, accessories design and making, textile design, fashion illustration, fashion photography, technology-enabled fashion businesses, and service providers whose main sector of focus is fashion, are welcome to apply.
• Applicants should have an existing account on the Fashionomics Africa Platform or create one.

Selection Criteria

• Fashionomics Africa Incubator Program – Specific Selection Criteria
  • Fashion business entities under three (3) years, either registered or not registered.
  • Fashion business has at least deployed a proof of concept, at the micro, small or medium level.
  • The application provides a clear and detailed description of the fashion business.
• Fashionomics Africa Accelerator Program – Specific Selection Criteria
  • Entities should be formally registered as a business in the African country of operation.
  • Fashion business/start-up needs to be at the growth stage (must have existed for at least 3 years, have solid traction with clear product and sale channels and customer base).

For more information, visit Fashionomics Africa.