Africa: CANEX Opens Doors for Gambian Fashion Entrepreneurs Seeking Global Recognition

For Gambian style business owner Ndey Bassin Faye, developing a globally identified brand name starts with empowering females, commemorating regional culture, and welcoming African-made fabrics. At CANEX WKND 2026 in Lagos, she and fellow business owners are looking beyond borders to construct connections that might assist change their services and the continent’s fashion business.
When Ndey Bassin Faye discusses her style brand name’s international growth, she likewise describes promoting Gambian culture globally.
The creator of Bassin’s Couture, developed in 2016, is among 3 Gambian style and customizing business owners, Mariama Jallow, Ndey Bassin, and Ida, going to the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend (CANEX WKND) 2026 in Lagos, Nigeria.Their participation is sponsored by the Andandorr program, with assistance from EU YEP– Tourism and Creative Industries.

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For business owners, the four-day event is more than a chance to display their work. It is a possibility to satisfy prospective partners, get in touch with providers, gain from market specialists, and check out brand-new markets for their services.

At the heart of Faye’s work is a dedication to females and ladies. Through Bassin’s Couture, she utilizes style not just as an organization chance however likewise as a method of empowering ladies to pursue entrepreneurship while promoting Gambian culture through style.
Like numerous African style business owners, she deals with difficulties that extend beyond imagination and workmanship. Among the greatest challenges is accessing products.
“One of the challenges we face is the difficulty of sourcing diverse fabrics, particularly those outside of Gambian culture,” states Faye.
She highlights the difficulties of sourcing products from other African nations, keeping in mind that, in some circumstances, it is simpler to gain access to materials from Europe and China than from within the continent.

While the continent is home to abundant fabric customs, cotton-producing nations, and a growing neighborhood of designers, linking the various parts of the worth chain stays challenging.
For Faye and her partners, CANEX provides a chance to assist bridge a few of those spaces. She wants to utilize the event to develop relationships with providers, satisfy fellow designers, and check out partnerships that might enhance her company and broaden its reach.
“I want us to go international. I want our brand to be seen and to be known internationally,” she states.
She likewise wants to see more African products included into African style.
The Gambia has a custom of handweaving, and Faye is happy to deal with in your area grown cotton. By integrating hand-woven materials into her styles, she is taking useful actions towards developing a fashion industry that promotes regional resources while commemorating the nation’s cultural identity.

Developing a fashion business that supports African designers

The difficulties dealing with business owners such as Faye become part of the larger discussions at CANEX, especially throughout various masterclasses used by professionals in the fabric market. In a masterclass about how African fashion industry might enhance their marketing management and broaden into international markets, high-end brand name specialist Anita Ehui highlighted the structural troubles that continue to impact African fashion industry, especially in production, fabrics, sourcing, quality assurance, and prices.
“I think we have a big manufacturing problem, whether in textiles or production itself, and that makes things difficult,” Ehui stated.
She described that while numerous designers desire make their items completely on the continent, accomplishing this can be challenging due to restrictions in material accessibility, production capability, and quality.
Designers are frequently required to make compromises, whether on quality, rates, or style, due to the fact that the required resources and facilities are not constantly easily offered. Ehui motivated business owners to prioritise African sourcing and production any place possible, arguing that increasing need for in your area made items might assist reinforce the continent’s production environment.
She likewise warned versus some typical errors made by emerging style companies.
One typical error is overcomplicating organization choices, such as creating and offering items based entirely on individual choices instead of real consumer need.
For African fashion industry going for development, recognizing the proper market is important. Rather of attempting to interest everybody, business owners need to comprehend their target clients, their desires, and the most efficient methods to interact the worth of their items.
She highlighted how CANEX supplies an essential platform for designers to get in touch with possible clients and promotes discussions that can cause collaborations and originalities.
“CANEX is giving fashion designers a platform. It is also connecting some of the brands with customers,” she specified.
She included that events like CANEX produce chances for partnership, knowledge-sharing, and has possible to expose developers to brand-new viewpoints.
“When we gather at CANEX, there is always a conversation that can spark a collaboration or even open your mind to something new,” she stated.