The African Development Bank's call for applications for Fashionomics Africa is looking for African fashion, textile, clothing and accessories entrepreneurs and companies to apply and benefit from the Fashionomics Africa Online Incubator and Accelerator programmes.

The programmes will last 8 weeks each and the content will be available in English, French, Arabic and Portuguese. Through a competitive process, leading fashion entrepreneurs will be invited to present their business ideas at Fashionomics Africa Online's pitching day competitions.

Fashionomics Africa is an initiative of the African Development Bank that aims to increase Africa's participation in the global textile, clothing and accessories value chains. The aim is to support the growth of the 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 expand their businesses in an increasingly digitalised economy.

The initiative launches the Fashionomics Africa incubator and accelerator programmes to build sustainable business models and access funding opportunities. The curriculum and content will be structured into separate incubator and accelerator programmes, focused on improving the marketability of early-stage companies (incubator) and growth-oriented start-ups (accelerator) to financiers, through an emphasis on strengthening business and financial models, investment readiness, branding, marketing, digitalisation, sustainability and circular economy actions applied to the industry, and preparing for the capital-raising process through an in-depth course on business financing.

VALUE
The programmes will culminate with 12 selected finalists, each from the incubator and accelerator programmes, vying for the top 2 prizes of 20,000 USD each to grow their operations.

ELIGIBILITY

• The competition is open to participants who can provide an identification document, such as a passport, national identity card or voter's card issued in an African country, and/or who are domiciled in African countries.
• Applicants must be aged 18 or over. Priority will be given to young people (18-35 years old) and fashion companies led by women.
• Any micro, small and medium-sized fashion enterprises (MSMEs) or fashion entrepreneurs operating in the fashion ecosystem, including but not limited to fashion design and manufacture, accessories design and manufacture, textile design, fashion illustration, fashion photography, fashion technology companies, and service providers whose main sector of activity is fashion, are welcome to apply.
• Applicants must have an existing account on the Fashionomics Africa Platform or create one.

To apply and for more information visit here.