This initiative aims to support African entrepreneurs in the fashion, textile, apparel, and accessories (TA&A) industry in expanding their businesses. Africa’s fashion and textile industries are a powerhouse, ranking as the continent’s second-largest employer and boasting a market size of $31 billion in 2020.
With the global fashion market projected to double in the next decade, reaching a staggering $5 trillion annually, exciting opportunities await African fashion entrepreneurs. And this is one of them. Even with a promising outlook, African fashion entrepreneurs still face hurdles, lacking crucial industry skills and access to financing.
To support this budding economy, the ADB’s Fashionomics Africa Incubator and Accelerator programs brings you solutions to face these challenges head-on, aiming to propel Africa’s participation in the global fashion scene.
At the end of the training program, top fashionpreneurs will receive personalized support to refine their business models, pitching skills, and networking capabilities.
The Incubator Program nurtures early-stage businesses, equipping them with the know-how to grow their business. It provides aspiring entrepreneurs with the knowledge to develop their ventures, build sustainable models, and secure funding.
The Accelerator Program empowers established fashion businesses (MSMEs and startups) with the tools to thrive. Focused on growth-stage companies, it equips them with knowledge to build a customer base, manage cash flow, and explore product and market expansion.
The inaugural year of the Fashionomics Africa Incubator and Accelerator programs delivered exceptional results. Top participants gained entrepreneurial skills, financial and technical know-how, and industry insights, solidifying their businesses in today’s digital landscape.
The curriculum addressed key challenges faced by African fashion startups across four areas, namely, product development, talent management, distribution strategies and access to funds. Delivered in three phases, it addressed core technical, business, and creative capacity-building needs.
The eight-week intensive training empowered over 5000 participants with six winners from Cohort 1 and 2 awarded $20,000 each. The curriculum provided a roadmap for sustainable business growth, fostering trade expansion within Africa and beyond.
Building on this success, the second year will focus on marketability, branding, business growth strategies, sustainability practices, and financial management. Additionally, networking sessions will foster collaboration, partnership building, and knowledge sharing among participants.
Even with a promising outlook, African fashion entrepreneurs still face hurdles, lacking crucial industry skills and access to financing.
At the end of the training program, top fashionpreneurs in the program will receive personalized support to refine their business models, pitching skills, and networking capabilities. The participants will also have a chance at pitching their ventures to industry experts and investors during the 'Demo Day.'
Twelve winners (six from each cohort) will be chosen and awarded $10,000 each to support their entrepreneurial journeys. To get a sneak peek into what Fashionomics Africa Incubator and Accelerator programs has to give, here is what previous participants form the first year of the program have to say;
Gifty Adonu
'Since the training, there has been an increase in the revenue of the business. A 10% increase in profit has been seen on each product as compared to what we had two months ago. During the training I took some cues from the pricing strategy of a product.'
Theresa Ogallo
'I am now a seller on the Afrikrea digital marketplace. Additionally, I have on boarded one new employee and have a strategy to recruit one more in the next couple of months and set my cost markup to 60%, previously 50%.'
A call for applications for the second year of the Fashionomics Africa Incubator and Accelerator programs is on
Applications for the second year of the Fashionomics Africa Incubator and Accelerator Programs will close on. 20/10/2024 To apply, participants are required to fill out an online form which takes 3 to 5 minutes to complete.
Four people were killed Sunday by an Israeli airstrike on a hospital courtyard in central Gaza where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, according to Al Aqsa hospital and civil defense officials.
Another 40 people were injured in the attack, the Gaza Government Media Office said.
About 5,000 people have been sheltering on the grounds, according to hospital officials.
The office said it was the seventh time that the camp inside the grounds of the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah had been struck since January and called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop attacks against civilians.
The Israeli military said it conducted a precise strike on a Hamas command center 'embedded inside a compound that previously served as the 'Shuhadah Al-Aqsa' hospital.' The military also said it took steps to limit harming civilians and blamed Hamas for using civilian infrastructure.
Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 40 people on Sunday, including at least 13 children. Many of the dead and wounded had been brought to the Al-Aqsa hospital on Sunday.
A 39-year-old British woman was killed when a malfunctioning ottoman bed fell on her neck and asphyxiated her, a coroner's report said.
Helen Davey, who lived in northeastern England and ran a beauty salon, died in June as she 'was leaning over the storage area of an Ottoman-styled 'gas-lift' bed,' coroner Jeremy Chipperfield said in his report, released last week.
Ottoman beds have a base that can be raised â” usually using gas-lift hydraulics â” to access a storage space underneath. They are a popular choice for householders wanting to keep bedding or unseasonal clothes out of sight.
The mattress platform on Davey's bed fell unexpectedly, 'trapping her neck against the upper surface of the side panel of the bed's base,' Chipperfield explained. 'Unable to free herself, she died of positional asphyxia. One of the two gas-lift pistons was defective.'
Davey was found by her daughter, Elizabeth, according to a statement read in court and reported by local paper The Northern Echo.
'I went upstairs, my mam's bedroom door was wide open, and I saw her lying on her back with her head under the bed,' Elizabeth said in court.
'Her legs were bent as if she was trying to get up. I dropped everything that I was holding and tried to lift the top of the bed off her head. The bed was no longer a soft close and could fall heavily if it was released. It was so heavy for me to lift it up and try to pull her out. I managed to lift it up enough to use my foot to support it.
'I noticed that her face was blue with a clear indent on her neck from the frame. I managed to pull her clear. I feared that she was dead as she made no sound. I started CPR and noticed that she wasn't breathing,' she said.
Chipperfield warned in a letter to Britain's business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, that there is a risk of future deaths 'unless action is taken,' highlighting the 'existence and use of gas piston bed mechanisms whose failure presents risk to life,' as a 'matter of concern.'
Under UK law, coroners must report to the relevant organization or government agency when they think action should be taken to prevent future deaths.
At least 62 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 42,289, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Monday.
A ministry statement added that some 98,684 others were also injured in the ongoing assault.
'Israeli forces killed 62 people and injured 220 others in four massacres of families in the last 24 hours,' the ministry said.
'Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,' it added.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to halt the war.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
At least one person was killed and eight others injured after a Russian missile strike hit port infrastructure in Ukraine's southwestern Odesa region, local authorities said Monday.
'Port infrastructure was once again the target of the enemy (Russia). One person was killed, eight others were injured. The victims are in the hospital, two of them are in serious condition,' Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper announced on Telegram.
Kiper noted that the casualties included Ukrainian port officials and said two civilian vessels were damaged in the attack. The ships, which are flagged under Belize and Palau, suffered significant impact, with one of themâ”a Palau-flagged cargo shipâ”having already been damaged in a similar strike just a week prior.
'As a result of the attack, there is damage to the port infrastructure, in particular, the grain warehouse,' Kiper added, emphasizing the impact on vital facilities within the port.
Russian authorities have not yet commented on the incident.
Gachagua was impeached by the National Assembly in a historic vote on Tuesday, October 8, 2024. A total of 281 MPs voted in favour of the impeachment motion against him, while 44 legislators voted against it, and one abstained.
The 59-year-old is scheduled to appear before the Senate on Wednesday and Thursday this week to defend himself against a host of impeachment charges, which include corruption, insubordination, undermining the government, and practising ethnically divisive politics. The Senate will then vote on each of the charges and deliver its verdict.
Ahead of the “hour of reckoning” and amid a perceived general consensus among lawmakers allied with President William Ruto to remove him from office, Gachagua has turned to the Judiciary, hoping that the courts will save him from the wrath of MPs.
Speaking during a church service on Sunday, the Deputy President beseeched the Judiciary to assert the will of the people over the whims of politicians. He expressed confidence in the Kenyan Judiciary’s ability to deliver justice.
'I am a believer in the independence of the Judiciary. I am certain the courts will exercise judicial authority, protect and uphold the Constitution, and honour the will of the people. Our Judiciary is efficient. They (judicial officers) protect the Constitution and the rule of law and always ensure that the people’s will is respected. I have confidence that the rule of law will prevail and the people’s choice will be upheld,' he told the congregation.
Gachagua, who was elected on a joint ticket with President Ruto in the August 2022 General Election, insisted that it would be unfair to remove him from office barely halfway through his five-year term.
'We elected many leaders (in the 2022 General Election). Is it possible to remove others from office? The President (William Ruto) and I were elected on one ticket. We are asking that the people’s choice be respected,' he added.
Gachagua also appealed to his supporters to pray for him and for the country, urging them to remain calm regardless of the outcome of his impeachment in the Senate.
'Despite everything happening in the country, my plea is that we maintain peace and calm. God is on the throne. Let’s preach and maintain peace, irrespective of the outcome. Kenya is our country,' he stated.
Late last week, Gachagua filed a petition at the High Court in Kenya seeking to block the Senate from proceeding with his impeachment trial. He claims the impeachment motion is malicious and that MPs were coerced into passing it. The petition is among at least 20 cases filed by various individuals and groups in a bid to stop what seems inevitable.
During his appearance in the National Assembly last Tuesday, Gachagua, whose impeachment has been linked to an alleged fallout with President Ruto, dismissed the charges leveled against him as “outrageous and baseless propaganda” aimed at tarnishing his reputation and unfairly ousting him from office.
He spent significant time addressing allegations of corruption, denying claims that he had amassed Ksh5 billion worth of wealth within two years through corrupt means. He insisted that the listed property belonged to his late brother, who had named him as one of the administrators of his vast estate.
If the Senate upholds any of the charges against Gachagua, he will become the first Deputy President in Kenya’s history to be removed from office through impeachment.
Gachagua was impeached by the National Assembly in a historic vote on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.
Mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria will become a bigger part of the curriculum at medical schools across Europe in the face of the climate crisis.
Future doctors will also have more training on how to recognise and treat heatstroke, and be expected to take the climate impact of treatments such as inhalers for asthma into account, medical school leaders said, announcing the formation of the European Network on Climate & Health Education (Enche).
Led by the University of Glasgow, 25 medical schools from countries including the UK, Belgium and France will integrate lessons on climate into their education of more than 10,000 students.
Glasgow University's Dr Camille Huser,co-chair of the network, said: 'The doctors of the future will see a different array of presentations and diseases that they are not seeing now. They need to be aware of that so they can recognise them.'
Insects that spread diseases, such as mosquitoes, are expanding their range and being found in new areas, aided by changes in temperature and rainfall patterns. Chronic diseases such as cancer, heart and lung conditions, diabetes and mental illness can all be affected by factors such as extreme weather or air pollution.
The role of the climate in teaching at medical schools varies considerably, Huser said, and often consists of just a single module or lecture. The network envisages it being 'infused' throughout teaching in future.
'Climate change ⦠doesn't necessarily create a whole new range of diseases that we haven't seen before but it exacerbates the ones that do exist,' Huser said.
'Diabetes, for example, is not something that people link to climate change at all, but the symptoms and complications become more frequent and worse for people who live in a world where the climate has changed.'
Antimicrobial resistance, in which pathogens evolve so existing drugs no longer treat them effectively, is also being exacerbated by climate breakdown and Huser said this should be reflected in teaching.
Students will also be taught to advocate for things such as active travel ┠walking or cycling rather than driving ┠and 'green prescribing', where patients are encouraged to take up activities such as community gardening and tree planting. Both offer health benefits to individuals, as well as being positive for the environment.
Encouraging people to look after their health had 'huge benefits for them personally', Huser said, but would also 'reduce emissions if they require less input from the health system'.
She added that many people did not realise the healthcare sector was responsible for as much or more greenhouse gas emissions than the airline industry. 'When you fly somewhere, you feel very guilty, but when you go to the doctor, you don't feel guilty.'
Students will be shown how changes in managing a condition can have an impact. Inhalers used to treat asthma emit greenhouse gases, so keeping the condition controlled not only benefits the patient but reduces inhaler use. Some patients may be able to switch to dry powder inhalers, which release fewer greenhouse gases.
While there have been piecemeal initiatives at institutional levels, network leaders said this was the first joint attempt around the teaching of undergraduate medical students. The network will also attempt to influence bodies that set national curricula, such as the General Medical Council in the UK, so that the climate crisis becomes a mandatory part of all doctors' education.
Huser's co-chair, Prof Iain McInnes, also of Glasgow University, said the network's aim was 'building the conversation into medical curricula so that the doctors of the future are literate in this conversation, they don't feel it's a campaign item.
'This is as pivotal and critical to their thinking as it is to manage obesity, smoking and other environmental challenges. It is simply part of the DNA of being a doctor.'
The World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the initiative, along with private pharmaceutical and healthcare businesses, including AstraZeneca, Bupa, GSK, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Roche and Sanofi, as members of the Sustainable Markets Initiative Health Systems Task Force, a public-private collaboration working on the decarbonisation of healthcare.
Prof Cecilia Sorensen, director of the GCCHE, said: 'Climate change will impact all of us, everywhere but not equally and not in the same way. Regional networks are necessary to help health professionals prevent and respond to climate and health challenges which are unique to the communities where they practise.'
Donald Trump is invoking a vision of an extreme new White House term that would transform America and rock the world.
And Vice President Kamala Harris has only three weeks to avert it, as she struggles to restore momentum in a neck-and-neck race to Election Day.
The Republican nominee is escalating the most toxic anti-immigrant rhetoric in modern US history, warning outsiders with 'bad genes' have 'invaded' the country after falsely claiming that Haitian migrants here legally were eating pets in Ohio. At a rally in Arizona on Sunday, Trump baselessly suggested that if Harris were elected, 'the entire country will be turned into a migrant camp.' In Colorado two days earlier, he again vowed to 'begin the largest deportation operation in the history of the United States,' promising, 'We will close the border. We will stop the invasion of illegals into our country. We will defend our territory. We will not be conquered.'
And he escalated his threats against political opponents this weekend, saying on Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures' he could turn the military on 'the enemy from within.' The ex-president, who incited violence to try to stay in power after the 2020 election, also said at a rally Saturday that a heckler exercising the right to free speech should 'get the hell knocked out of' her.
In another preview of how he could use presidential power to serve his personal and political whims, Trump this weekend threatened to withhold federal disaster aid to Democratic-run California â” even as he falsely accuses Harris and President Joe Biden of doing the same to hurricane-hit Republican districts. Trump also said CBS should lose its license because he faults its editorial choices over a Harris interview on '60 Minutes' that he declined to sit for. Trump's allies, meanwhile, raised concerns about how a new administration might deal with big business by threatening to cancel Deloitte's federal contracts after an employee apparently leaked Sen. JD Vance's private messages critical of the former president.
And new details are emerging of the former president's genuflection to foreign tyrants like Vladimir Putin after the Kremlin confirmed Trump sent Covid-19 tests to a Russian authoritarian who is a sworn enemy of the United States during a pandemic he frequently downplayed.
History suggests that Trump doesn't always act on everything he says. But his past behavior suggests his threats should be taken seriously.
And a Supreme Court ruling granting presidents substantial immunity suggests few impediments to imperial executive power.
Trump's deepening extremism is increasing already massive pressure on Harris. And a phalanx of senior Democratic leaders ┠including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama ┠are pleading with voters in swing states, especially the Black and Latino voters Harris needs, not to let Trump return.
The vice president sharpened her attacks on Trump on Sunday during a rally in North Carolina, criticizing him for failing to release his medical records (just after issuing her own medical report) and for refusing to meet her in a second debate and to be interviewed by '60 Minutes.'
'He's not being transparent with the voters. ⦠It makes you wonder, why does his staff want him to hide away? One must question, are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable?' she asked.
Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris listen to her speak during a rally at Ripon College, in Wisconsin, on October 3. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images
Growing fears among Democrats
Dread is growing among Democrats that the euphoria over Harris' entry into the race in July, her successful convention in August and her debate performance the following month have not translated yet into a decisive lead over Trump.
There's no clear leader in the latest CNN average of national polls, which includes neck-and-neck surveys by CBS, ABC and NBC released Sunday. Even if Harris were leading in national surveys, there are fears that, like Hillary Clinton before her, she could win the popular vote but fall short in the Electoral College.
The tightly balanced race three weeks out shows that while he's an aberration from traditional presidential candidates, Trump is offering something millions of Americans want. Republicans argue that Harris-Biden policies caused a spike in inflation the White House tried for months to downplay. Trump cites the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan to argue the current White House is seen as weak around the world. And after failing to tackle the policy or political ramifications of immigration earlier in Biden's term, Democrats offered Trump a huge opening on a critical issue.
The close contest also suggests that despite Trump's unapologetic extremism, Democrats have failed for the third election in a row to produce a candidate and a message that can give them any reassurance about the election result. While liberals and moderates might be horrified by the strongman leadership Trump proposes, he's winning on what voters consistently say is the top election issue: the economy. In the ABC News/Ipsos poll, for example, 59% say it's getting worse, even though the job market is robust, inflation is far from its highs and interest rates are easing.
With the nation in such a sour mood, Harris' incumbency as vice president is a liability. And her failure, in a recent interview with ABC's 'The View,' to come up with even one thing she would have done differently from Biden is a misstep Trump will exploit all the way to Election Day. Harris has spelled out policies to help people buy and rent homes, to ease the cost of health care and to revive a bipartisan border bill that Trump killed. But it's still often hard in her interviews to spot a powerful rationale for her campaign. Trump's vow to deport migrants, torch US trade competitors with tariffs and fix a world spinning out of control looks forceful by comparison, even if extreme.
Still, Democrats looking for reassurance might note that Trump tops out at 48% or below in most polls. This implies that his typical ceiling in national elections remains in place, while Harris may still have room to grow. In the NBC News poll, 10% of voters said they might change their minds. And what the network called a 'sliver' were still unclaimed. In states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona and Georgia, even late shifts in support could be decisive.
The eventual makeup of the electorate will also be crucial. Will Harris' focus on abortion rights, for instance, stir higher-than-expected turnout from women voters that could confound pollsters' assumptions? Can she stem her opponent's advances among Black male and Hispanic voters? Or will Trump tap a new pool of support among Americans who agree with him on many issues but rarely vote?
What Harris needs to do
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the press before boarding Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on October 12, 2024. Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Democratic strategist Doug Sosnik believes the election is a 50-50 race and that Harris plateaued in the last 10 days as Trump gained some ground. He told CNN Political Director David Chalian on the 'CNN Political Briefing' podcast that the presidency may depend on which candidate finally brands themself as a change agent.
Trump's campaign released a memo Sunday claiming that question had already been answered. 'She can't convince the voters that she is 'the change agent' in the race, that she will be better on the economy, inflation, immigration, crime, or improving people's financial situation,' the memo said. 'The bottom line is that voters say President Trump will do a better job.'
But Sosnik said the campaign is 'really going to boil down to Harris and whether she can stand up to the pressure and the scrutiny and whether she can create a permission structure for people who don't want to vote for Trump but are concerned about Harris.' He warned: 'They don't feel like she has given them enough reason to vote for her ⦠she is not doing that right now.'
Harris' task is complicated by the lack of opportunities to take on Trump directly. The former president, who has spent weeks lambasting her for avoiding the press, rarely strays from his comfort zone of conservative media and Fox News, where he enjoys adulation rather than cross-examination. He is dodging a second presidential debate against Harris and pulled out of a '60 Minutes' interview before critiquing the vice president's performance on the show. And whereas in 2016, when Trump's rallies were hard to escape on cable television, the performances now rarely get end-to-end coverage outside conservative media, meaning that many voters may not appreciate his extreme and increasingly disjointed antics.
Obama seemed baffled during a campaign appearance for Harris in Pennsylvania last week at his predecessor's enduring appeal among millions of voters. 'There is absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anyone but himself,' Obama said. 'Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than a means to an end.'
But Trump â” despite his two impeachments, his criminal conviction, and his attempt to destroy democracy to stay in power â” is within reach of the presidency again with a more radical agenda than before.
Sen. Chris Murphy has been sounding the alarm in recent days with a string of increasingly frantic posts on X. Reacting to Trump's description of undocumented migrants last week as 'rapists' and the 'worst criminals in the world,' Murphy wrote that such rhetoric portends 'a dystopian country' with open-air prison camps and the rule of law suspended. 'We cannot let this happen. His vision of America is not America,' the Connecticut Democrat added.
His post underscored what Harris represents for those who fear the very real prospect of Trump's return.
IGIHE has learnt that Rees Kinyangi Lulu was taken into custody on October 2, 2024, in connection with misappropriated funds linked to Nobilis Hotel, a property owned by Sonarwa.
He was arrested along with the hotel’s accountant, Aisha Uwamahoro.
Their arrest was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), Dr. Murangira B. Thierry, who stated, “It’s true. They are being investigated for embezzlement and the mismanagement of public assets.”
The case has been forwarded to the prosecution, although investigations are still ongoing.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sonarwa General Insurance, Rees Kinyangi Lulu, has been arrested.
The in-kind donations were mobilized as per the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the follow-up of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Presidential Court, and under the supervision of H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes’ Affairs and Chairman of the International Humanitarian and Philanthropic Council.
The aid collection was organized by the Emirates Red Crescent Authority, with the participation of more than 4400 volunteers from various nationalities who packed 10000 baskets of supplies.
Dr. Hamdan Musallam Al Mazrouei, Chairman, Board of Directors, the Emirates Red Crescent Authority, stressed the depth of the historical relations between the UAE and Lebanon, which, he said, has been evident today in the wide public participation in the activities to collect humanitarian relief aid for its people facing the crisis.
Al Mazrouei has also referred to the spirit of human solidarity that marks the diverse segments of the UAE society consisting of a wide variety of nationalities, cultures and ethnicities who rose to the occasion to extend a helping hand to the people of Lebanon in their difficult circumstance.
Around 24 donor and volunteer organizations participated in the activities of collecting relief aid at the cruise terminal in Abu Dhabi Ports. They are the Emirates Red Crescent Authority, the Zayed Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives.
Others include the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, the Ahmed bin Zayed Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department, Dubai Humanitarian, Dubai Cares, Sharjah Charity Association, the International Humanitarian City, the Big Heart Foundation and the Emirates Foundation.
Other volunteer organization involved in collecting the relief are the UAE Volunteers Foundation, the Sharjah Centre for Voluntary Work, the Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi Foundation for Humanitarian Work, the Fujairah Charity Association, the Watani Al Emarat Foundation, the International Charitable Works Organisation, the Emirates Charity Association, the Sharjah Charity House, the Dar Al Ber Society, the Dubai Charity Association, and the Day for Dubai.
‘UAE stands with Lebanon’ will run until October 21st.
