Nigeria news and archive

Condé Nast College students collaborate with Nigerian fashion entrepreneurs

Master’s students at the Condé Nast College in London are joining forces with entrepreneurs from The Assembly Hub in Nigeria for the Unleash Fashion Business Exchange Programme, which is sponsored by the British Council. The Assembly hub is a fashion hub platform that entrepreneurs and young creatives in Nigeria can consult for training,...

CultureFeatured

'A Nasty Boy' tests Nigeria's masculinity

Make no mistake -- Nigeria's "A Nasty Boy" is not a gay online magazine. In a country where homosexual acts can be punished with 14 years in prison, this provocative website featuring photos of men in mini-skirts is simply "pushing the boundaries and exploring masculinity". Richie Akuson, the 23-year-old founder, makes up for what he lacks in...

Fashion Featured

Curves rule the Lagos catwalk

Karl Lagerfeld once sniffed that "no one wants to see curvy women" on the runway, but a wave of Nigerian designers are proving him wrong. The opening night of Lagos and Fashion Design Week on Wednesday featured five designers showcasing plus-size collections in a defiant celebration of all things curvy. "Everyone is entitled to their own...

Business

Nigeria: India to set up apparel training centre

India's department of commerce announced in a press release on Friday that it has set up the first of its kind apparel training centre in Kaduna, Nigeria, as part of the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme (Cotton TAP) for Africa. The centre has been set up in partnership with the Nigeriam government under the Second India Africa Forum Summit...

Business

Nigerian textile and garment industry loses billions due to cheap imports

According to World Bank estimates, Nigeria's textile and garment industry loses billions of US dollars in garments and textiles each year because of cheap imports that are smuggled into the country. Local production has dropped to a mere 40 million US dollars annually. The cheap imports, particularly from China, are smuggled into the country...

Fashion Featured

Looking Beyond the Obvious in Sub-Saharan Africa - Part I

For many fashion brands, South Africa has been the stepping stone into the sub-Saharan region due to the attractive economic growth and affluent market. But has the time now come to start expanding north? According to Euromonitor International, sales through apparel and footwear specialists in Nigeria and Kenya are expected to grow by 93 percent...

Fashion Featured

Zashadu luxury handbags making a mark overseas

Mention northern Nigeria and the first thing that may spring to mind is Boko Haram. Zainab Ashadu is hoping to change that -- by selling designer handbags. The Nigerian designer is the brains behind the Zashadu brand, whose modern, colourful creations use the ancient art of tanning and leather-dyeing from the country's north. "I think people...

Design

Nigeria: counterfeiting costs textile industry a million jobs

In the last twenty years, more than a million Nigerian textileand apparel workers have lost their jobs due to counterfeited products. The prevalence of counterfeiting has forced many textile factories to close, leaving the whole industry in danger and posing a potential danger to the economy and its position as a new frontier economy. Industry...

Design

Foreigners fill gap in high street spending

Brazilians and Nigerians are set to rival the Chinese for top place as the most serious shoppers on Britain's high streets. Tourists from both countries are helping to fill the gap left by the fall in Britons' spending. Purchases by Brazilian shoppers in London are up by 92 per cent while Nigerians have spent 50 per cent more in February...