AALF and ASFW at Millennium Hall from November 9-12

All African Leather Fair (AALF) and African Sourcing Fashion Week (ASFW) opened on November 9 at Millennium Hall and will remain open until November 12.
Fashion fabrics firms, accessories, fashion and boutique stores, retail, technology / Machinery systems, printers, printing inks and accessories, home and household textiles, décor, crafts, gifts and accessories, hospitality industries of textile apparel, cotton, leather are participating on the 4th Africa sourcing and fashion week for “sustainability in manufacturing and labor” and 11th All Over 280 international manufactures and exporters from 25 countries including from Germany, Portugal and France and from the local industrial park are participating to show case their products and innovations on the fashion week which shows 20pc increased from the last year. More than 20 African designers are expected to connect with the international buyers and industries. More than 5000 visitors are expected on the event.
This year is different because it opens the door for both textile and leather industries to participate in the fashion week together.
Is organized by the trade and fair group in partnership with mess Frankfurt exhibition, ministry of trade and industry, Ethiopian textile development institute, and Ethiopian textile and garment manufacture association.
It was also announced that UNIDO, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, will launch a project dubbed “Leather Initiative for Sustainable Employment Creation”. Funded by the EU, the project is to be implemented in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Beside the showcases at the hall, two workshops are being planned; “Tanneries improving competitiveness through environmental compliance, technology transfer and establishing strategic linkage” and “Ethiopia’s position in Africa’s leather industry” will be held with the participation of development partners, investors and stakeholders in the leather sector.
Sileshi Lemma, representative of the textile industries associations, this kind of practices can widely help to increase the relation between the local and foreign investors and the investment. “The sector is comparatively growing, however there are still lots of things to do as the nation has resources.” USD 155million has been collected from the textile sector last fiscal year.
Last year there were 207 participants and 5000 visitors.
The Leather Institute Development Deputy Manager, Hailekiros Debasay, said this event will create a road map to the local countries to be competitive in the international market by sharing experiences of other countries. USD 134 million has been generated from the textile sector last fiscal year.
As sources indicate, the country has about 2.5 percent of the world livestock population with about 57.83 million cattle; 28.04 million sheep and 28.61 million heads of goat. Every year, the nation produces 5 million tons of hides, 8.1 million tons of sheepskins and 7.5 million tons of goat skins. Currently, both industries are thriving remarkably. Companies from Italy, China, UK, India, and Turkey are operating in the sector.