How Ananse is Stitching Africa’s Fashion Dreams into Global Reality – THISDAYLIVE

At the intersection of creativity, technology, and opportunity, a quiet, yet extraordinary industry revolution is unfolding in Lagos. The Ananse Centre for Design, recently launched by Ananse Africa in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and supported by Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, is redefining what it means to build a sustainable creative economy in Africa.

For decades, African fashion has inspired the world. From the Kampala and Ankara prints that grace global runways to the traditional craftsmanship that defines high-end couture. Yet, African designers have long been constrained by systemic gaps, which include a lack of infrastructure, inadequate training, poor market access, and limited digital adoption. It is precisely these gaps that the Ananse Centre for Design Lagos is designed to close.

A Vision Born from the Continent’s Creative Struggles

For Samuel Mensah, the Ghanaian-born entrepreneur and brain behind Ananse, this initiative is personal and deeply strategic. A former investment banker turned creative economy evangelist, Mensah understands both the art and the economics of creativity.

“The inspiration came directly from the African creatives we work with,” he said in an interview with THISDAY.

“Across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and South Africa, we noticed similar challenges, limited access to resources, quality equipment, and skills training.

“These gaps affect product quality and restrict access to higher-value markets. Nigeria, being our largest market and the heart of African creativity, was the natural choice for our first centre.”

This vision is ambitious: to empower over 5,000 emerging fashion and design-focused creatives and generate up to 50,000 jobs, with women accounting for about 70 per cent of participants. But beyond the numbers, the Centre aims to build an ecosystem, one that turns raw talent into sustainable enterprise, a one-stop shop for the fashion creative and commerce ecosystem.

Why Lagos? The Beating Heart of African Fashion

Few cities encapsulate Africa’s creative pulse quite like Lagos. The city’s blend of grit, glamour, and ambition has made it a breeding ground for designers, artists, and cultural innovators. “Lagos is Nigeria’s fashion capital and arguably Africa’s,” Mensah explained. “It made perfect sense. There’s a critical mass of young creatives here who need the kind of ecosystem we’re building.”

The Ananse Centre, located at 10A Nike Art Gallery Road, is a 1,200-square-metre innovation hub. It houses dedicated studios for clothing, leather goods, footwear, accessories, photography, and content creation, as well as training and co-working spaces designed to foster collaboration. The setup is reminiscent of creative campuses in London or Milan, but built with Africa in mind.

It’s a place where, as Mensah puts it, “technology meets tradition, and creativity meets commerce.”

Bridging Gaps: From Training to Trade

One of the most significant challenges in the African fashion value chain is fragmentation. Designers often operate in isolation, with no access to modern equipment, standardised production facilities, or reliable logistics. The result is inconsistency in quality and limited scalability.

The Ananse Centre was designed to tackle this head-on. In partnership with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the centre offers formal certification in fashion and design, blending hands-on training with business and digital skills.

“We have five core modules that blend creativity with entrepreneurship,” Mensah said. “Beyond sewing and design, we teach marketing, accounting, intellectual property, and pricing. Many designers don’t know how to cost or calculate margins properly, which affects profitability. We help them understand their business, not just their craft.”

Technology as the Great Equaliser

Mensah’s background in tech is evident throughout the Centre. Long before it had a physical presence, Ananse.com functioned as an e-commerce platform helping African designers sell globally. That digital-first DNA now extends into training, with modules on Computer-Aided Design (CAD), AI-assisted production, and digital fashion illustration.

Through a partnership with Clo3D, a global CAD software company, the Centre is certified to train designers in virtual garment design and pattern-making, skills that allow them to serve clients anywhere in the world, without shipping a single sample.

“With these tools,” Mensah explained, “a Lagos-based designer can design for a client in New York or Paris. They can earn in dollars or euros without ever leaving Nigeria. That’s what digital inclusion really means.”

This marriage of technology and craftsmanship, he believes, is Africa’s competitive edge. “We’re not trying to replace artisanal skills with machines,” he said. “We’re enhancing them. Technology should amplify handcraft, not erase it.”

Public–Private Collaboration: The Key to Scale

The Ananse Centre for Design is a product of collaboration between the private sector, development partners, and government; an approach Mensah calls “essential for systemic change.”

“The problems we’re solving are too big for one company,” he explained. “Many creatives are stuck in a vicious cycle; lack of funding leads to poor quality, poor quality limits sales, and limited sales mean no growth. Breaking that cycle requires partnerships and institutional support.”

The Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy aligns perfectly with this vision. “Our partnership with Ananse reflects our commitment to youth opportunity and inclusive growth,” said the Country Director of Mastercard Foundation Nigeria, Rosy Fynn, at the centre’s launch.

The Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, and Creative Economy, led by Hon. Hannatu Musa Musawa, also signed a five-year memorandum of understanding to replicate the model nationwide. “By investing in skills, facilities, and global visibility for our designers, we’re creating jobs and ensuring Nigerian creativity is recognised on the world stage,” Musawa said.

In a world where fast fashion dominates, the Ananse model emphasises sustainability and small-scale production. Designers can use shared facilities to produce between 10 and 100 units per style; a scalable, cost-effective model that encourages quality and reduces waste.

This approach aligns with global sustainability trends, giving African designers a competitive advantage in eco-conscious markets. “We’re teaching responsible sourcing, dyeing, and material use,” Mensah noted. “Sustainability isn’t just about the environment; it’s about building a business that can last.”

The centre’s potential impact goes far beyond fashion. By formalising skills, improving product standards, and linking creatives to global markets, it could catalyse a new wave of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa.

Impact modelling projects that the Ananse ecosystem could create tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, boost exports, and enhance foreign exchange earnings. Already, collaborations with logistics giant DHL and Ecobank are streamlining cross-border shipping and payments for designers.

Changing the Narrative

Perhaps the most profound impact of the Ananse Centre lies in shifting perceptions. For decades, African creativity has been celebrated but undervalued. Mensah believes that the narrative is finally changing.

“Africa has always led creatively; our ideas are borrowed globally. What’s been missing is execution and scale. With better infrastructure, mentorship, and partnerships, we can now transform creativity into enterprise and wealth.”

To that end, Ananse is nurturing partnerships with legendary artisans like Nike Davies-Okundaye, blending traditional craft with modern design and ensuring that cultural heritage remains central to the continent’s fashion renaissance.

A Model for the Future

In five years, Mensah envisioned at least ten Ananse Centres across Nigeria, from Lagos to Kano, Port Harcourt, and Abuja; each catalysing innovation and entrepreneurship.

“I want to see thousands of thriving fashion entrepreneurs and African creatives earning in foreign currencies,” he said. “Our goal isn’t just to create jobs, but to create value, to make Africa not just creatively rich, but economically competitive.”

For an industry that has too often struggled to translate inspiration into income, the Ananse Centre for Design represents a new kind of infrastructure, one built not just of bricks and machines, but of belief; belief that African fashion can be world-class, belief that creativity can be profitable, and belief that when technology meets tradition, Africa’s design future will not just be bright; it will be unstoppable.