Stakeholders converge to chart a path for sustainability in circular fashion ecosystem

By Dickson Omobola

The Nigerian circular manner ecosystem is facing a captious turning constituent arsenic stakeholders, innovators, and authorities representatives converged astatine the authoritative motorboat of the UK-Nigeria Circular Fashion Pathway Report and Co-Creation store successful Lagos to illustration a way for sustainability successful the industry. At the bosom of the speech was the urgent request for policy, structure, and collaboration to alteration what experts picture arsenic an “unstructured and complex” abstraction into a thriving circular economy.

According to the Nigerian state pb for Innovate UK Business Connect, Mr. Akoji John, circular manner successful Nigeria remains mostly informal and fragmented, contempt its immense imaginable to make jobs, trim waste, and pull planetary investment. He stressed that without a coordinated framework, opportunities wrong the manufacture whitethorn proceed to gaffe away.

“One of the cardinal insights from our study is that Nigeria’s circular manner is complex, unstructured, and precise informal,” helium explained. “We are asking whether it is imaginable to make unions oregon associations that bring manner bodies unneurotic truthful they tin talk with 1 voice. That corporate dependable tin unlock opportunities for funding, investment, and collaboration some locally and globally.”

For Innovate UK, supporting innovation crossed borders goes beyond ideas. John outlined 3 pillars driving their intervention: accelerating innovation, promoting cognition transfer, and gathering partnerships. “We effort to spot if ideas from individuals oregon tiny businesses are viable and supply the enactment to motorboat them. We besides guarantee businesses person entree to the cognition they request to standard and link them with the close partners, whether successful Nigeria, Africa, oregon the UK,” helium said.

The Lagos workshop, which featured the motorboat of the UK-Nigeria Circular Fashion Pathway Report, highlighted glaring gaps successful knowledge, finance, and regulation. Many operators, John noted, inactive trust connected outdated methods from the 1960s and 1970s. “There is simply a immense cognition spread successful the manner space. Innovate UK is bridging this done speech programmes and cognition transportation betwixt Nigeria and much precocious markets,” helium said.

Knowledge transportation manager astatine Innovate UK Business Connect, Ms. Chidubem Ejezie, reinforced the findings of the report, which underscored the lack of enabling policies and regulatory structures for manner waste. “Currently, astir of Nigeria’s regulatory policies absorption connected plastics. There is nary model for circular fashion, and that is 1 of the urgent interventions needed,” she said.

She stressed that beyond policy, entree to concern and infrastructure remains a stumbling block. “The technologies needed to recycle oregon upcycle textiles are expensive. Without hubs oregon structured support, galore businesses cannot spend them. If we tin make structured platforms, concern and partnerships volition follow,” Ejezie added.

The lawsuit besides showcased homegrown solutions. Jesutofunmi Oluwadare of Suss Fabrics explained however her institution converts textile discarded into eco-friendly insubstantial for packaging, notepads, and magazines. “Every year, we suffer betwixt 4 to 8 cardinal trees to insubstantial making. If we tin person textile discarded into paper, it is sustainable and reduces deforestation,” she said.

Similarly, Afrikstabel’s originative director, Ifebuche Madu, highlighted however her textile institution integrates recycling into accumulation by reusing dye wastewater and collaborating with implicit 150 artisans. “Sustainability starts with tiny steps. It could beryllium packaging, buttons, oregon dye. Every effort counts,” she said.

Government beingness astatine the store was notable, with Lagos State officials pledging enactment for circular manner initiatives. Stakeholders anticipation specified commitments volition construe into wide argumentation frameworks, incentives, and program integration to embed circularity into Nigeria’s manner acquisition system.

Beyond Nigeria, Innovate UK’s Global Alliance Africa task spans Kenya, South Africa, and the UK, providing broader opportunities for cross-country collaboration. “This is not conscionable astir Nigeria. Launching the study crossed aggregate countries gives Africa a stronger dependable successful sustainable fashion,” John noted.