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The Three Spheres of Sustainability Source: Adapted from Sustainability Assessment and Reporting for the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor Campus (2002)

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Africa urged to work for a green, resilient recovery from COVID-19
Economic Commision for Africa (2021)

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Africa urged to work for a green, resilient recovery from COVID-19

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The Africa Renewal information programme provides up-to-date information and analysis of the major economic and development challenges facing Africa today. It examines the many issues confronting the people of Africa, its leaders and its international partners: economic reform, debt, education, health, women's advancement, conflict and civil strife, democratization, aid, investment, trade, regional integration, rural development and many other topics.

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Campbell, J (2021) How to Think about Africa's Rising Middle Class amid Covid 19. Available at: https://www.cfr.org/blog/how-think-about-africas-rising-middle-class-amid-covid-19 (Accessed: 16/11/2021).

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How to Think About Africa’s “Rising Middle Class” Amid COVID-19

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Conventional wisdom is that Africa’s rising middle class is the engine for economic and social development. However, on a continent of 1.3 billion people resident in more than fifty countries, this trope may obscure more than it illuminates.

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Latif Dahir, A (2021) Coronavirus Is Battering Africa's Growing Middle Class. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/world/africa/Africa-middle-class-coronavirus.html (Accessed: 16/11/2021).

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From Kenya to Nigeria, South Africa to Rwanda, the pandemic is decimating the livelihoods of the once-stable workers who were helping to drive Africa's economic expansion.

A busy street in Nairobi, Kenya, this month. About 170 million of Africa's 1.3 billion people are classified as middle class. Credit... Khadija Farah for The New York Times

NAIROBI, Kenya - James Gichina started out 15 years ago as a driver shuttling travelers from the airport, worked his way up to safari guide, and with the help of some bank loans, bought two minivans of his own to ferry vacationers around.

His clients were, as he is, members of Africa's growing middle class - bankers from Nigeria, tech entrepreneurs from South Africa, and fellow Kenyans who could finally afford trips to enjoy their own country's beaches and wildlife preserves.

But when the coronavirus pandemic cratered the tourist industry and the economy, Mr. Gichina removed the seats from his minibus and started using it to hawk eggs and vegetables. With what he now earns, he said, he can barely afford to pay rent, buy food or send his 9-year-old son to school.

"We have been working hard to build better lives," Mr. Gichina, 35, said of his colleagues in the tourist sector. Now, he said, "We have nothing."

As the coronavirus surges in many countries in Africa, it is threatening to push as many as 58 million people in the region into extreme poverty, experts at the World Bank say. But beyond the devastating consequences for the continent's most vulnerable people, the pandemic is also whittling away at one of Africa's signature achievements: the growth of its middle class.

For the last decade, Africa's middle class has been pivotal to the educational, political and economic development across the continent. New business owners and entrepreneurs have created jobs that, in turn, gave others a leg up as well.

Educated, tech-savvy families and young people with money to spare have fed the demand for consumer goods, called for democratic reforms, expanded the talent pool at all levels of society, and pushed for high-quality schools and health care.

About 170 million out of Africa's 1.3 billion people are now classified as middle class. But about eight million of them could be thrust into poverty because of the coronavirus and its economic fallout, according to World Data Lab, a research organization.

It's a setback that may be felt for years to come.

"The tragedy is that because Africa is not growing fast, this collapse of the middle class could take several years to recover," said Homi Kharas, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the co-founder of the World Data Lab.

Africa's middle class tripled over the past 30 years, by some estimates, spurred by job opportunities in sectors like technology, tourism and manufacturing. But now that the region is facing its first recession in 25 years, millions of educated people living in urban centers could fall victim to the extreme income inequality that has defined Africa for decades.

The rising middle class has been "critical for the future prospects of African economies as they stimulate long-term growth, social progress, an inclusive and prosperous society and effective and accountable governance," said Landry Signé, author of "Unlocking Africa's Business Potential." The coronavirus "will drastically delay wages and hold back the dreams of Africa's middle class," he said.

Governments across Africa responded differently to the coronavirus, but Kenya was among those that closed borders, imposed curfews and restricted movement between counties. In Nairobi, the capital, malls were once touted as a symbol of a rising middle class. Now their owners are furloughing employees, shuttering stores and desperately trying to survive the crisis.

When Kenya first announced lockdown restrictions in March, there was almost no foot traffic at the Junction mall, where Nairobi's middle class had once gravitated to dine and shop in more than 100 stores.

Eastleigh, a bustling area with dozens of malls, hotels, lodges and banks, was also put under a total lockdown in early May after a jump in reported coronavirus cases.

Maryan Bashir, who owns three stores in Eastleigh that sell mattresses and curtains, said traders like her were already worried about whether they could still get supplies from China as the pandemic began to affect imports. But the lockdown left them reeling from lack of customers.

It also cut employment. Out of 12 of her co-workers, only three lived within the locked-down area and could report to work.

The authorities lifted the curfew from Eastleigh in early June, but Ms. Bashir said it will be a long time before shop owners like her are able to make the same profits they made before the pandemic.

"The landlords are still asking for rent," she said, "but if we are not earning anything, how do we even pay?"

The economic fallout of the Covid-19 outbreak is also being felt among the middle class in Nigeria, Africa's largest economy. Hit by low oil revenues in the pandemic, the West African nation faces increasing unemployment rates and a recession that could last until 2021, according to the International Monetary Fund.

As demand for goods and services crashed, small businesses and entrepreneurs dependent on cash flow found themselves increasingly in dire straits.

Biola Kazeem established his sports marketing company, Elev8 Sports Entertainment, six years ago, marrying his passion for sports with his college degree in communication. But as sports leagues worldwide canceled or postponed events, Mr. Kazeem said he lost 70 percent of his business and had to put half of his 11-member staff on leave without pay.

Despite facing financial challenges in the early years, "nothing absolutely prepared us for this," Mr. Kazeem said in a phone interview from Lagos.

In Zimbabwe, which has been in economic free fall for years, the pandemic and the ensuing restrictions are threatening the solvency of those who have built a bridge into the middle class.

For years, Madeline Chiveso's restaurant in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe, served professionals such as bankers, journalists and engineers flocking to work. But as infections rose and the restrictions tightened, there were no customers to serve. She was forced to close the restaurant.

She used to make $350 a day, and now makes nothing. She is using her savings to pay bills, she said, jeopardizing her dream of one day owning her own home.

"The future looks surely uncertain because nobody knows how this would end," said Ms. Chiveso, who is 46 and a single mother of two daughters, both in college.

Mr. Kharas, of the World Data Lab, defined the middle class in Africa as households that spend anywhere between $11 and $110 per capita per day.

What distinguishes the middle class from the poor, said Razia Khan, the chief economist for Africa and the Middle East at Standard Chartered bank, is the ability to earn a steady income. But because of the pandemic, many more people across Africa are at risk of being "knocked back into poverty" because of lack of jobs, unemployment benefits or any social safety net, she said.

The pandemic is also posing a threat to nascent industries supported by governments in Africa in recent years to boost the number of middle-income earners.

Rwanda, which announced aspirations to become a middle-income nation by 2035, supported the local textile and fashion industries to limit imports of used clothing from the United States, and boost manufacturing.

Matthew Rugamba, 30, created House of Tayo in 2011, building it into one of the leading brands in Rwanda's burgeoning fashion scene. Mr. Rugamba gained enough notice for his designs to be worn in Hollywood, at the premiere of the movie "Black Panther."

But as Rwanda enforced one of the toughest lockdowns in Africa, Mr. Rugamba's store shut its doors, only to open several weeks later to almost no customers. Even though he's pivoted to making masks and introduced a delivery service, business has not been the same.

"We were at a point where people value the work that we do," Mr. Rugamba said. But with the pandemic, he said, "you go through periods where you are worried that this is something that I have invested nine years of my life in, and is it going to be there tomorrow?"

More governments are offering financial support and tax breaks to businesses, and urging proprietors to hold onto their employees even if they reduce production or services, said Mr. Kharas, of the World Data Lab.

Economists like Ms. Khan said that emerging markets in Africa, no strangers to economic shocks, have proven resilient in the past, and could come out stronger when the pandemic is over.

But that hope is likely a long way off for Mr. Gichina, the safari guide now selling eggs to survive. He works for the tour company Bonfire Adventures, which was founded in 2008 by an entrepreneur named Simon Kabu, specifically to serve Africa's growing middle class.

Once a milk delivery guy and conductor on the matatu minibuses used for transit in Kenya, Mr. Kabu grew up in Kenya's central highlands to a mother who was a farmer and a father who was a retired civil servant.

But by starting a business that served the ever-growing travel needs of the middle class, he grew Bonfire Adventures into an award-winning tours company with 10 offices, 200 permanent staff and 300 drivers and guides.

The coronavirus has gutted all that, pushing Mr. Kabu, 45, to lay off his employees en masse. The only staff members currently working, he said, are accountants who are processing refunds for customers unable to travel.

Mr. Gichina hopes business will resume soon - especially as he dreads losing out on the peak wildebeest migration starting in late June, which usually draws tourists from across the world.

"The banks are pressuring us a lot," he said of the urgency to settle his loans. "They are saying you have to pay," but, he asked, "where should we get the money?"

Lynsey Chutel contributed reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa and Jeffrey Moyo from Harare, Zimbabwe.

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Coronavirus Is Battering Africa's Growing Middle Class (Published 2020)

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From Kenya to Nigeria, South Africa to Rwanda, the pandemic is decimating the livelihoods of the once-stable workers who were helping to drive Africa's economic expansion. NAIROBI, Kenya - James Gichina started out 15 years ago as a driver shuttling travelers from the airport, worked his way up to safari guide, and with the help of some bank loans, bought two minivans of his own to ferry vacationers around.

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Covid-19, Shining a Light on the Incredible Resilience of African Women

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In Western and Central Africa, as in the rest of the world, women have been the first victims of the social and economic repercussions of the crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Here's Why Africa Is The Next Luxury Fashion Destination

African motifs, and designs have consistently been a part of fashion trends - both on and off the runway. However, the fact they were inspired, and not developed by, and alongside African designers, has meant that there has always been a void where accurate representation of the continent, its design heritage and fashion was concerned.

LVMH estimates that the luxury African fashion industry is worth over $5 billion and is expected to grow by 30% by the year 2021. It is both an indication of the rich and varied history of the continent, and how underrated it has been in conversations surrounding the fashion industry.

All this is set to change. According to McKinsey and Company report , luxury fashion buyers are beginning to value sustainability and ethical production very highly, The latest conversations around sustainability, measured inventory, and a made-to-order production cycle gives designers from the continent an advantage. It gives opportunities for labels like Studio 189 which displayed local, artisanal, and sustainable fashion from Africa on the runway recently. This is the time for Africa to claim its rightful place on the fashion map.

Challenges: Learning From Past Mistakes

The greatest challenge for bespoke fashion in Africa tends to be that it is easier to get a good bargain given the fact that most retail is still sold directly by artisans. African retailers saw this in the form of tourists who try their best to cop a good deal by wearing down the producer at flea markets to the point where the sale would no longer make retail sense. Unfortunately, such an attitude is not an aberration but a common practice across small scale industries.

African designers are combating this trend in very unique ways- the fashion labels themselves employ some of these local artisans and provide them with a sustainable fee, and in turn, take on the responsibility of marketing and selling to a global audience.

Then, there are the production challenges themselves. One of the biggest issues in the sustainable fashion movement today is the genuine challenge of scaling up. Is fashion sustainable if it is produced and sold at scale? Then, one also needs to consider how skilled artisans can be trained further and how to employ enough skilled artisans to meet the global market demand. After all, pushing the same person to do more simply takes us back to the fast-fashion concept.

Luckily for some African designers, the dialogue around sustainability itself helps address these issues.

As buyers become conscious of the impact of their choices, they are also more keen to buy two good pieces and value them as art, than buy twenty and dispose of them.

This brings us to the third challenge, which is quality. The question around quality is also a question about sustainability. Simply put, getting people to work on intricate Batik work in tight timelines does not suffice. Labels like Studio 189 are now working towards training more talent in indigenous art forms and hiring them to be able to scale more sustainably. As for the consumers, they pay for value, and a good product offers just that.

Lastly, for some labels that have their operations within Africa, logistical issues still need addressing, from intermittent power supply to erratic transportation between cities and towns. Hence, they need to account for all of these elements into their production lead times. Better collaboration between the sellers and buyers is absolutely essential for the success of such models. There are also those African designers who have taken the actual production outside of Africa, to countries that have similar production traditions.

Why Africa Stands For Sustainability

No conversation can be had around African luxury fashion without discussing sustainability. A whole host of ethical, cultural and operational considerations have resulted in this. On the brighter side, Africa may just have valuable lessons for fashion houses in other countries.

The USP of African fashion labels is their artisanal heritage. As we know, the skill of an artisan can simply not be multiplied tenfold, and certainly not overnight. Thus, a skilled artisan offers their services to a retailer who understands their skill. Overall, the end product costs more but it also has the distinctive stamp of a handmade product. In that sense, sustainability is interwoven with production and the two can never be separated. Because there is a demand for local skills, the supply-end pricing is in the designer's control.

There's also the fact that many African designers today source even the base fabric from within Africa. They do this primarily to shift the spotlight onto handwoven fabrics that are part of the continent's culture for centuries. In doing so, they reduce the pollution caused by manufacturing the cloth in one place and then flying it halfway across the world. They also get a chance to employ local weavers who understand the fabrics and techniques they are working with, leading to a higher quality product that is also completely local.

Haute Baso in Rwanda employs local women and provides them with livelihood, while also making the most of their weaving skills. Egypt's Reform Studio using food packaging and jute fibers to manufacture their base material. In some ways, the relatively smaller scale of production at these design houses naturally lends itself to a more sustainable business model.

No Better Time Than Now

Brands like Suno and Maiyet existed long before the likes of Studio 189 and they all strived to bring African fashion to the fore. However, there's a thing or two to be said here about perfect timing, and that's what today's African luxury designers have. For one, eCommerce sales are not an aberration anymore and newer generations of consumers are more than willing to buy luxury fashion online.

But the most defining trend in popularizing African fashion comes in the form of D2C or Direct-To-Consumer retail. Africa as a continent does not play host to any major fashion week events yet. Visibility at bigger fashion events. Many designers like Lemlem in Africa sell directly through Net-A-Porter. They are at the forefront of creating a Made-In-Africa story.

Going online and selling directly to consumers gives these designers better control over their narrative. It also gives them a chance to explain the story behind a product, and drive the message of locally made fashion home.

Industrie Africa is another platform that connects African designers to global consumers and looks into all aspects of fulfillment. It also helps that the platform hosts designers from over 23 African countries and is helmed by a duo with global experience in fashion merchandising.

African Luxury Designers You Should Know

As a growing phenomenon, we are sure to see more African designers and their creations on the horizon soon. Apart from Studio 189 which showcased at NYFW recently, there are several other designers who combine their traditional aesthetic with modern needs.

Lisa Folawiyo's designs are contemporary, but the distinct flavor of Africa can be felt right through. She combines form with texture using a variety of different materials to give her decidedly modern clothing some gravitas. Maki Oh is a label which is one of the better-known ones and has been donned by the likes of Michelle Obama. The designers use the contemporary form, but the story of each piece is rooted in their culture.

Washington Roberts is perhaps the best example we have on the scene today of diaspora's influence on fashion. Mr. Roberts treats fashion as an art form and effortlessly combines the stories of Nigeria with the preferences of New York. For the longest time, swimwear has never been an avenue for innovation but label Andrea Iyamah changes that. One look at her swimsuit collection and you will know why.

As the fashion scene in Africa takes off, we're also keen to see who else makes a splash on the global runways and in what ways. We can also expect some of these designers to be endorsed by legacy fashion houses. If there ever was a time for luxury African fashion, it is happening right now.

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Here's Why Africa Is The Next Luxury Fashion Destination | Vue.ai Blog

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African motifs, and designs have consistently been a part of fashion trends - both on and off the runway. However, the fact they were inspired, and not developed by, and alongside African designers, has meant that there has always been a void where accurate representation of the continent, its design heritage and fashion was concerned.

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The Future of Fashion in Africa - WGSN Insider

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This interview outlines Sunny Dolat’s and Nisha Kanabar’s shared vision to showcase the bold creativity and untold nuances of fashion design across Africa.

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www.wgsn.com
www.stylus.com
https://www.peclersparis.com

https://www.premierevision.com/en/?
https://www.premierevision.com/fr/
https://www.trendstop.com/
https://www.lsnglobal.com/
https://www.thefuturelaboratory.com/
https://www.heuritech.com/

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Direction de l'innovation

Décryptez les nouvelles tendances de consommation. Nos experts internationaux en mode, beauté, design, sociologie et tendances décryptent les évolutions sociétales et culturelles majeures qui transforment les styles de vie et les désirs de vos consommateurs.

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Peclers Paris : Conseil en tendances, style, innovation

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Direction de l'innovation Décryptez les nouvelles tendances de consommation. Nos experts internationaux en mode, beauté, design, sociologie et tendances décryptent les évolutions sociétales et culturelles majeures qui transforment les styles de vie et les désirs de vos consommateurs.