Friday, March 29, 2024

Growth in fashion entrepreneurs good for Zambia’s economy

Share

Vodafone Zambia Country Manager, Michael Horup (l), flanked by Vodafone Education Manager, Mutale Kapaso (c), presents Lusungu Mudondo as winner of the Vodafone Challenge.

Vodafone Zambia says, the nation’s creative industry, particularly fashion, has started wielding notable influence both locally and internationally, a phenomenon which had the capacity to significantly impact the economic growth and improve the employment prospects of the country.

Company CEO, Michael Horup said this during the just ended Zambia Fashion Week, which saw several young entrepreneurial hopefuls showcasing their products before an audience composed of fashion enthusiasts, investors, and local and international media houses.

Mr Horup said: “The textile and clothing (T&C) industries form a major part of manufacturing production, employment and trade. Fashion is a structurally diverse industry, ranging from major international retailers to wholesalers to large design houses to one-person design shops. Zambia’s burgeoning industry has the potential, if well nurtured and supported, to employ people across occupations – including fashion designers, computer programmers, lawyers, accountants, copywriters, social media directors and project managers.

“Sponsoring Zambia Fashion Week (ZFW) is part of our continued efforts to help unearth and empower upcoming entrepreneurs and give them a platform upon which they will be identified by prospective business partners and investors,” added Mr Horup.

And Karen Nakawala, the CEO and founder of Afro Multi Media Productions, of which Zambia Fashion Week is an offshoot, noted that if Zambia’s fashion industry was to have an indelible impact on the national economy, it would require overwhelming support for the young entrepreneurs within the sector, both from the public and private sector perspective.

“Many of the young entrepreneurs actively involved in the fashion business are self-employed. We need to collectively support these young people, many of whom are undergoing the incubation process, only then will we see growth in our textiles and clothing (T&C) industry and a subsequent impact on economic growth and employment. Against this background, we commend Vodafone JUMP for their efforts on this pertinent matter.”

This year’s Zambia Fashion Week (ZFW) ran from October 19th to the 21st with over 1,000 fashion enthusiasts, investors and media attending the event over the three-day period.

2 COMMENTS

Comments are closed.

Read more

Local News

Discover more from Lusaka Times-Zambia's Leading Online News Site - LusakaTimes.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading