ISSUE 48/DEC2022 - Flipbook - Page 12
Africa’s Most Influential Women | EVERYDAY HEROES
NAW: It’s been 11 years since you started
the African Fashion Foundation and you
are now ready to pass on the AFF baton.
In that period, what has changed or
should have changed?
ROBERTA ANNAN: Let me start by giving a bit of
background. Yes, it has been 11 years and a lot has
happened. But my journey began in 2011 when I
was connected by Fashion 4 Development to the late
Franca Sozzani, who was the editor-in-chief of Vogue
Italia. She was interested in setting up a magazine
that would challenge and change the negative
narrative about Africa.
Her vision resonated with me, and if someone is going
to do something that will shed Africa in a positive
light, of course, I will be supportive. So I helped her
as a special projects developer and introduced her to
a lot of African creatives in different countries. The
magazine did well and it was the first time that many
people saw African creatives in a different light. Back
then in 2012, people only talked about a few black
creatives who were visible on an international scale.
The likes of Oswald Boateng, Duro Olowu, and David
Adjaye. Those were the kind of luminaries that people
knew. But in terms of the younger generation of
creators, that didn’t happen, they didn’t have access,
and they didn’t have relationships. So what the special
issue “rebranding Africa” magazine (Vogue L’Uomo)
did was that it gave them that initial introduction to
visibility on a global stage. And I was very excited to be
part of that.
But after they got the exposure and media coverage,
the question was, then what? They still lacked access
to finance. They still lacked infrastructure.
I saw the challenges, and that’s how I decided to start
the African Fashion Foundation (AFF) to help address
those challenges.
Fast-forward 11 years later, how would
you describe the fashion and creative
industries in Africa right now, has it
evolved for the better?
What I see in the fashion industry is that the current
generation of creatives is really trying its best to shine
a spotlight light on African creativity. Just look at
what is happening at the V & A Museum in London,
where there is this big and beautiful African fashion
exhibition or the LVMH Prize which today has more
African designers on its shortlist and we have even had
some win the prize, including Thebe Magugu who is
making waves and doing us proud. What this shows is
that there is a growing need to have African creativity
and for it to be put at the forefront. But there are times
when I see this as both a blessing and a curse.
12 l
New African Woman
l Dec 2022
Why do you feel that way?
Simply because many of these creatives still do not
have those building blocks to a profitable business. You
see, we now live in a tech age of Social Media, where
people basically build their equity and their return on
investment based on their social media capital. And
that’s not really the way forward, because what you
have is still a business, and at the end of the day, as
with any business you need to put the right building
blocks in place.
And that’s where you come in as an
impact investor. And with the AFF, would
you say you have had a good run in the
11 years that it has been operating?
Yes exactly, that’s why I invest. And it has been a great
11 years. However, it’s been 11 years, of both success
and failure. But what I like about failures, is that you
learn from them. And because there isn’t any model
that will fit in like a proven concept, for where we
are - we are in a very novel territory, where you need
to come up with your own ideas, mechanisms and
proof of concepts. And I feel the AFF has, for the past
11 years, developed a proof of concept that is robust
because it’s gone through a series of tests that have
ensured that we stood the test of time. That is part of
the value that we bring to the industry.
Therefore, although there are so many competitors, I
think the value is that we have actually gone through
the mill, and we understand the lay of the land.
People need to understand that you cannot just throw
money at the problems faced by the African fashion
or Creative industries. There are so many facets to
consider. With AFF, we have gone through the loops
and the maze, and we know where we are able to find
solutions. It’s key to stress, therefore, that it’s not about
money alone. And that is something that is extremely
valuable for investors in the industry to think about.
THE IMPACT FUND FOR AFRICAN
CREATIVES (IFFAC)
Clearly, as you have stated, you have
been through triumphs and tribulations
on your journey with AFF which has now
rather evolved into the Impact Fund
for African Creatives (IFFAC). Can you
expound a bit more on how you have
navigated the space to arrive at where
you are today?
You know what. I think maybe it is the scientist in
me. I always want to take a scientific approach to a
problem. When I came into this space, I saw that there
were many challenges — if I can put it that way — ▶