Portugal Fashion new edition kicks off with an approach to Africa in the agenda

The 49th Portugal Fashion Edition started yeaterday in Porto. Until October the 16th, the national fashion promotional event comes back to presential fashion shows and brings along several news, being the most relevant the partnership with Afreximbank, an investment bank committed to the promotion of Africa’s cultural and creative economy. This morning Rui Moreira welcomed, at the Council Chambers, the event’s promoters, greeting the convergence of both markets and the choice of Porto as the host for an event of such international magnitude.

July last, ANJE - Associação Nacional de Jovens Empresários (Young Entrepreneurs National Association), Portugal Fashion promoter organisation, celebrated a partnership with the import and export African bank, to promote the textile and clothing African industry in Portugal. This partnership is part of the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) program, that intends to facilitate investment in the cultural and creative areas in Africa through financing, skill reinforcement, promotion of exportation and investment in African talents.

Thus, over the next couple of days, 20 designers from several African countries show their collections in Porto, “expecting, with this approach, to reach new challenges, new international markets, and develop their capacity through brand implementation”.

To mark the kick-off of another edition of the event in Porto, mayor Rui Moreira and vice-mayor Filipe Araújo, welcomed the entourage on Tuesday morning. The welcoming ceremony took place behind closed doors, in Sala D. Maria (reference area in the Council Chambers for the official acts performed by the Porto City Hall Mayor and Municipal Executive Board), also present were Alexandre Meireles, ANJE’s President, Manuel Mota, one of the vice-presidents of the Association, as well as other Afreximbank board members, among which Afreximbank’s President, Benedict Oramah.

Portugal Fashion 49th edition’s first act took place in the afternoon, in Alfândega do Porto, with the initiative “Portugal – Africa Investment Roundtable Talks”, a journey of reflexion, debate and networking dedicated to business, investment, exportation and partnerships between Portugal and Africa in the clothing and textile sectors. Divided in theme panels, it had its debut today with the discussion about “Closing the Investment Gap: Building Resilient Africa – Europe Textile Value Chains Post Covid”.

Rui Moreira attended the session, that gathered African investors and Eurico Brilhante Dias, the Secretary of State for Internationalisation. Taking as an example the success story of the textile industry in the northern region of the country, and its resilience to crisis, the mayor of Porto established a parallel with Africa.

“It was predicted that this industry would disappear from this region, but the good news is that 25 years later we are still here. And we achieved that through technology, backing the designers, entrepreneurship. And we see high potential for that to happen in Africa as well”, the mayor stressed out. The mayor also believes that the new African generation has given the world “an image of success”, benefiting also from the population’s youth and the natural resources available.

Porto’s Mayor, talked in the panel moderated by Alexandre Meireles, and stated that, throughout the years, ANJE has encouraged the investment in the textile and fashion design sectors, wherefore he envisions that the relationship between Portugal Fashion and Afreximbank, the Investment African Bank, may generate opportunities for both markets. “We, at City Hall, want to be the matchmaker”, emphasised Rui Moreira.

Among the international guests present at the session, apart from Benedict Oramah, who had already visited Porto City Hall in the morning, attended Emmanuel Mukua, Textile and Cotton African Industries Federation, Mohammed Usman Abdul-Razzaq, FinanceCorporation vice president, Chris Oshiafi, Pan African Capital Holdings CEO, AbisadeAdenubi, Heritage Apparels executive director, Paulo Gomes, Orango InvestmentCorporation president, Giorgio Belloli, Farfetch sales and sustainability director, and others.

49th Portugal Fashion edition starts today in attendance form, with Alfândega do Porto as the central venue of the fashion event. Until Saturday, October the 16th, the line-up includes 35 fashion shows and Spring/Summer 22 presentations of, nearly, 50 brands and designers.

For more information of SS22 Portugal Fashion edition, click here.