Strategic Partnership Extension
Messe Frankfurt has expanded its partnership with Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week (ASFW) to include Nairobi, Kenya, licensing three established trade fair brands to strengthen the East African textile market. The company has granted rights to Texworld, Apparel Sourcing, and Texprocess to be held within the existing ASFW structure.
Market Positioning and Expected Numbers
ASFW Nairobi 2026 is expected to attract around 150 exhibitors and more than 5,000 trade visitors from over 50 countries. The integration of the three trade fair formats positions the event as the region's most important industry gathering, representing the entire textile value chain.
"Africa is becoming one of the major strategic growth markets for the global textile industry – so we're investing specifically in this bright future," said Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt. "Including Nairobi in our Texpertise Network continues our overall strategy of expanding our international connections and granting customers access to key growth markets."
Kenya's Growing Textile Sector
The expansion targets Kenya's position as an attractive location for international textile companies, supported by political backing, sustainable energy supply, innovative design skills and relatively short transport distances. According to Skander Negasi, CEO of Trade and Fairs Group, Kenya's textiles and clothing sector exports apparel products worth 500 million USD annually.
"Kenya's textiles and clothing sector is growing continuously and as such offers excellent operating conditions for the international fashion industry, which is increasingly seeking shorter transport distances and time-critical production cycles," Negasi explained.
Building on Addis Ababa Success
Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies at Messe Frankfurt, highlighted the strategy of applying their successful Addis Ababa concept to Kenya's market. "By applying our successful Addis Ababa concept, based on more than 10 years of collaboration, to one of East Africa's most dynamic markets, we are actively driving forward global networking," Schmidt said.
The Texpertise Network by Messe Frankfurt connects over 500,000 industry participants worldwide through over 60 international textile trade fairs in 15 countries. ASFW operates as Africa's largest trading platform for the fashion, leather and footwear industry, with sites in Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Dakar.
Based on reporting by Messe Frankfurt. Read the original article.