Pauline our HR & Social Impact Director and Kailash our Senior Technical Manager led a French webinar on demystifying the 'African Growth Opportunity Act' (AGOA) for garment and textiles manufactures in Mauritius. We had the chance to have Llenay Ferretti the CEO & Co-Founder of Bhavana World Project and Geerish Bucktowonsing, the Director of the Economic Development Board for Mauritius with us. We're looking forward to continuing to build capacity at scale in the continent.

Keren shared her thoughts about the great impact that Faith Driven Entrepreneur (FDE) has had on Ethical Apparel Africa along with Matt Parfitt from Grace Enterprises and Paul Rider from Salt dating app. The FDE is an extraordinary community of entrepreneurs and investors willing to place their faith and mission to serve at the core of everything they do.

Our CEO Keren Pybus had a fantastic morning at no 10 Downing Street discussing the digital divide and how we can close it with Prof. Dominic McVey MBE and Computer Aid International on their 25th anniversary. We are proud about the work we have done around digital integration at Maagrace Garment Industries Limited 

The Peers2Peers podcast "hosts conversations with some of the world’s most impressive millennial entrepreneurs. From the beginning, our purpose has been focused on inspiring people to think more, think deeper about what matters." They invited Paloma on the show to speak about co-founding EAA, her commitment to empowering women to be financially independent, and how EAA's work helps to close the gender gap.

At the Leaders Conference, Guernsey experts in leadership came together to talk about the fundamentals of great leadership, the real meaning of purpose and how this affects an organisation’s culture, strategy, operational procedures, ability to attract and retain talent, and how excellence is no accident - it's high intent in everything you do. Keren shared her change of career after seeing that ethical standards became a tick-box exercise in the retail industry. She explained how they were not viewed as something which needed continuous improvement. She shared her passion about ethical manufacturing and jobs being the way to alleviate poverty. 

The Better Buying Partnership Index reports for Fair Wear and ETI provide detailed scoring across the Partnership Index’s 12 key behaviours. These new insights are devised by collecting aggregated supplier feedback pertaining to ETI or Fair Wear member brands. Suppliers can rate member brand customers as either True Partners, Collaborators, or Detractors on each issue. 

Maagrace was featured in the press following the visit of the President of Ghana under the one-district one-factory (1D1F) initiative. In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, Maagrace was one of the leading garment industries, which produced more than two million facemasks, 18,000 hospital gowns and head covers as well as 12,000 medical scrubs for export, one of the strategic objectives of the 1D1F initiative. The visit was an opportunity for the President to walk through the factory and learn more about the new mask machine operating at full speed.

Partner Africa and & Wider worked with EAA and other global companies to monitor the impact of Covid on the ground for suppliers and workers in relation to human rights risk and impact.

This report outlines the findings from this research which included surveys with 7,425 workers and 297 managers and interviews with 31 key stakeholders

Ethical Apparel Africa, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Gerber, Groz Beckert, Freudenberg and Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC) launched the Ghana Apparel Training and Service Centre in Accra to boost Ghana's garment and manufacturing industry. 

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The Objective of the Center is to to strengthen export-oriented small and medium-sized apparel manufacturers to create 1,200 new jobs and train 500 individuals.

EAA featured in Uniform Market News, one of the trade press targeting specifically  uniform companies.

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Uniform Market News is a service of Sellers Commerce LLCto providing news, information and opportunities to uniform manufacturers, dealers and distributors.

EAA is proud to be partnering with TO THE MARKET, an ethical fashion startup not only providing a turnkey solution for apparel, accessories, and home goods, but also using its network of syndicated suppliers to deliver personal protective equipment in response to the global coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 has upended the global economy and had a profound impact on apparel supply chains globally. In this context EAA believes it critical to keep up momentum and visibility around the importance of protecting workers' rights.

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​From April 20th – 26th 2020, EAA participated in celebrating Fashion Revolution week -- raising awareness of the fashion industry’s most pressing issues and the importance of raising up the voices of the workers who make our clothes.

The fifth Africa Week brought together global and regional businesses, financiers, investors, policy makers and thought leaders for an insightful and honest debate of the key issues shaping Africa and its prospects for growth.

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Keren Pybus was one of speakers who shared insights about building sustainable partnerships in an emerging industry.

Drapers explores why more fashion retailers are tapping into Africa’s sourcing opportunities.

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African countries are vying to become global sourcing hubs. Government investment in new textile sectors, along with their low costs and proximity to Europe, make these appealing. High-volume retailers that can make long-term investment in the local area will make the most of the continent’s sourcing opportunities

EAA was recognised at the Fair Fashion in Africa event in London for their commitment to Women's Empowerment.   In addition working with the UN Foundation's Women Deliver conference on gender equality and women's health, rights, and well-being.

The LSEG report celebrates "the leading private companies operating in Africa, which have the most inspiring stories and the strongest growth potential" to power African development. EAA was one of 360 companies honored out of 4000 applicants. The report was produced in partnership with the ADB, CDC, PwC and Asoko Insight.

Ethical Apparel Africa Technical Director Paul Allen spoke regarding the importance of an integrated, sustainable cotton value chain for the growth of the apparel sector in the region.  

Keren Pybus delivered a keynote speech to the 600+ delegates attending SEDEX's 2018 conference. SEDEX described the speech as "an inspirational keynote discussing how impact has been achieved in the evolution of the apparel manufacturing industry in Africa." The keynote included video excerpts from EAA partner factory owner Linda Ampah.

Keren Pybus led a discussion of the EAA model and theory of change to a group of postgraduate students and industry professionals, as part of Cambridge's course in Sustainable Value Chains, "a globally influential Institute developing leadership and solutions for a sustainable economy." EAA has also collaborated with Cambridge's Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) Senior Researchers on innovation thought leadership delivering social and economic benefits in manufacturing.

EAA is now a signatory and active contributor to the development of the Social and Labour Convergence project (SLCP). The SLCP is a 2-year project aiming to develop an industry-wide effective assessment framework: a tool and verification methodology for the collection of unified data on social and labor performance in apparel and footwear supply chains. This will enable the industry to reduce audit fatigue and redirect resources towards improving workers' lives.

Jeanswest, one of Australia's leading lifestyle fashion brands, collaborated with EAA on a beautiful capsule collection influenced by local design. The Herald reports: "Jeanswest has no problems telling the world – and therefore its competitors – about EAA and their factory partners. Davies says she hopes more brands will make collections this way, with more transparency. And shout about it on their labels."

The main-stage panel at Planet Textiles explored the role that social entrepreneurs can and are playing to nurture a future where prosperity is within reach for everyone in the fashion value chain. EAA's Co Founder spoke to the 300 person audience alongside two other members of Ashoka's Fabric of Change cohort.

EAA was selected as a top-ten finalist out of more than 300 entries from 55 countries. The Challenge honored organizations that demonstrate innovation, impact, and sustainability in driving solutions forward at every step of the fashion value chain. EAA is proud to be part of the Fabric of Change cohort alongside other innovative businesses and nonprofits tackling different challenges, from environmental impact to working conditions to conscious consumerism.

Pauline our HR & Social Impact Director and Kailash our Senior Technical Manager led a French webinar on demystifying the 'African Growth Opportunity Act' (AGOA) for garment and textiles manufactures in Mauritius. We had the chance to have Llenay Ferretti the CEO & Co-Founder of Bhavana World Project and Geerish Bucktowonsing, the Director of the Economic Development Board for Mauritius with us. We're looking forward to continuing to build capacity at scale in the continent.

Maagrace has been nominated in the field  of Best in Textiles & Fashion for the
prestigious Ghana Industries & Manufacturing Awards, 2023. The Awards represent one of Ghana highly competitive programs, and we are honored be among Ghana's most prominent corporate entities. We are looking forward to the actual ceremony in October.

Maagrace Garment Indusries Ltd, represented by Grace Krampah was rewarded for its distinguished humanitarian services to the people of Ghana during the COVID-19 period. In 2020 Maagrace completely shifted its operations produce chirurgical masks to support the efforts of the authorities to protect people from the coronavirus.

Impact Central is an Accelerator for Impact Startups, which supports founders who want to solve social & environmental issues. Since it first started running impact accelerator programs in 2018, Impact Central has coached more than 50 innovative companies. Keren gave an inspiring talk about the EAA's vision and how offering competitive products that achieve more than just profit can positively impact the life of the people who make these products.

Faith Driven Entrepreneur is a movement dedicated to gathering one million Christ-following entrepreneurs and equipping them, so they can fulfill their call to create and transform the world around them. On this podcast Keren and Paloma share personal learnings from their entrepreneur journey and how their passion to create jobs and empowermet opportunities for thousands of women has shaped their own lives.

The Sector Chairperson, Garment, Textile and Leather of the Association Ghana Industries (AGI), Mrs Doris Nana Kesie visited Maagrace to share plans for the roll out of training programmes for its members in the coming months, especially as the operations of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gathered momentum.  She applauded Maagrace's new venture into solar and for striving to attain higher standards in the industry.

As a Business Call to Action (BCtA) member company, Ethical Apparel Africa participated in BCtA’s Impact Champions Programme via BCtA’s Impact Lab, to understand the impact of its business activities on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and collect evidence to inform its strategy and operations. 

This report outlines the findings we came to throughout this process.

With the support of a $1.3 million co-investment grant, EAA is raising the bar on human-centered manufacturing and cost competitive production for the garment industry in Ghana.

As one of the New USAID  West Africa Trade Hub’s first grantees, EAA will establish a model factory with modern equipment and new technology to accelerate the industry’s growth in the region, creating 800 jobs over the course of the project, 70 percent to women.

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Funded by USAID, the Trade Hub aims to address some of the region’s biggest development challenges, such as women’s empowerment and employment, by unlocking private capital and directing it to high-impact projects.

Launched in March 2019, the Open Apparel Registry (OAR) is a free, neutral and open source tool mapping garment facilities worldwide and allocating a unique ID to each. The tool is populated by contributions from industry and counts many ETI brand members amongst its contributors, including Gap, H&M, C&A, New Look and Tesco.

As well as brand contributors, the OAR has received data from civil society organisations such as Solidaridad and the Worker Rights Consortium and manufacturing groups including ETI member Ethical Apparel Africa

The North-American Association of Uniform Manufacturers & Distributors (NAUMD) celebrates EAA for its work to support West African parter factories pivoting manufacturing to PPE and essentially needed apparel for individuals and health care providers.

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The NAUMD is the association for the uniform and image apparel industry.  Their members come from the entire uniform supply chain: distributors – manufacturers – fabric mills & associated suppliers. 

In an interview given to Fashionomics Africa, Carly Beischer outlines how EAA has pivoted its business in 2020 to contribute to COVID-19 response. This includes producing 50K sets of ‘emergency relief’ medical scrubs for donation and low-cost sale to local healthcare providers, building a world-class surgical mask production unit and ensuring workers' health, safety and well being are safeguarded and continuously assessed.

EAA's COO Paloma Schackert has been recognized by Forbes in their 30 under 30 Entrepreneurs 2020 winners list for the Social Entrepreneurship category.

This year’s list is the result of thousands of international nominations, months of investigative reporting and the seal of approval from our panel of expert judges. The result: 300 young visionaries boldly redefining ten industries across 32 European countries (and hailing from an additional 30 non-European countries)

Promise and perils: Scaling up businesses in sub-Saharan Africa is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, sponsored by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The report examines factors enabling businesses in sub-Saharan Africa to scale. It considers the policy environment, state of technology and infrastructure, and financing opportunities and challenges.

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EAA was interviewed alongside other high growth businesses who contributed perspectives to the report.

10 companies today, including Unilever and Nordstrom, announced new & groundbreaking commitments to improve the health & empowerment of their female workers

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Ethical Apparel Africa will provide support to workplace empowerment

& health programs, including family planning & maternal health care, reaching 1,500 women in garment factories in Ghana

EAA was honored alongside nine other businesses, chosen among over 700 applicants. The CO Leadership Awards champion trailblazing apparel businesses that are pushing the boundaries of creativity, combining great products & services with business practices that change lives and solve environmental challenges.

Launched at the United Nations, BCtA aims to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals by challenging companies to develop inclusive business models. In becoming a BCtA member EAA joins a cohort of over 200 market leading enterprises contributing to global development efforts.

Ethical Apparel Africa partnered with Alfie Designs to celebrate the #FashionRevolution. Watch the video to learn more about our work to advance ethical manufacturing in Ghana and to hear directly from workers.

US company PAW5 specializes in products to stimulate dogs mentally while feeding them. PAW5 is committed to building a sustainable supply chain and has developed a strong partnership with EAA and KAD Manufacturing. Their recent order enabled KAD to hire and train 60 additional people and provide incentives, resulting in higher productivity and 1.5X take home pay.

With the export of a container of 15K clergy wear products to Hurley's Religious Goods in the USA, EAA partner factory ANC achieved a major milestone. US Ambassador to Benin, Lucy Tamlyn, remarked “I congratulate Benin on the country’s first apparel AGOA shipment and ANC for its first export to the United States. I’m also pleased to note that the growth at ANC is being achieved alongside a strong commitment to ethical standards. The jobs that are being created will empower employees to support their families and communities.”

Ethical Apparel Africa was highlighted in the weekend edition of the Times (UK) for our long-standing partnership with luxury floral shirt company Irvine.

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Founder Al Irvine says of EAA: "This is exactly what I was looking for: an expert who can provide not only superlative quality products but also guarantee that those who create my shirts are getting good wages and the highest standards of working conditions, training and educational opportunities."

The UK luxury nightwear company Tales of Thread feature in the Huffington Post focused on their ethical sourcing partnership with Ethical Apparel Africa, manufacturing in woman-owned factories centered on providing education and empowerment opportunities for their (predominantly female) workforce.

"Africa is fast emerging as the newest hub for apparel sourcing, but the risk is that brands will migrate there in search of lower costs, and supply chains will develop the same unethical and unsustainable characteristics that already exist in other parts of the world. Despite the risk, African apparel manufacturing presents a huge opportunity to reimagine the apparel supply chain and design it from scratch with sustainability at its core. Ethical Apparel Africa is doing just that."

In partnership with USAID and the West Africa Trade & Investment Hub, Ethical Apparel Africa led a coalition of four factories from Ghana and Benin to exhibit at MAGIC. The West African factories showcased their production capabilities and emphasized the advantages of manufacturing in the region.

On September 11th 2023, the USAID’s Deputy Assistant Administrator Athreya came to the EAA office to learn how apparel manufacturers in Africa work with local women-owned factories, supporting them to export goods while prioritizing workers’ well-being. We were honored to welcome them and our partners from AGAM for a very fruitful discussion.

We have been nominated by hessnatur for the Innovations for Tomorrow Award, a sustainability prize that recognizes incredible leaders who contribute to a more sustainable future, placing worker wellbeing & the protection of the planet at the core of their operations. Hessnatur has been operating for the last 45 years, contributing to create a more sustainable fashion industry for a better future. 

Pauline Watine was a speaker at the  USAID Women’s Economic Empowerment Community of Practice (WEE CoP) Coffee Chat, called “Boosting Women’s Economic Empowerment in West Africa with a Blended Finance Approach” on February 22, 2023. We were excited to be joined by nearly 120 of people from 20 countries to discuss private sector approaches to support the economic empowerment of women and youth under the West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (Trade Hub) activity.

Authentic Business is a mission-driven Company whose mission is to enable Authentic Business Transformation, Increase Employee Engagement and Release Untapped Energy in business. They help organizations journey to a place where everyone knows their unique value, where people understand how to work cohesively with others. The EAA team had the pleasure to work with them for about 6 months and develop internal strategies to help their team members' purpose to be aligned with the organization’s purpose.

Attracted by our commitment to wellbeing and transparency, the Levi Strauss Foundation entered into a partnership with Maagrace in 2022. This 3-year engagement measures wellbeing using innovative new methods and re-test impact on workers. In May 2022 we completed the baseline survey with  300+ employees, leveraging technology (iPads), peer engagement. Going forward this will enable us to publicize rigorous data around what works to improve workers’ wellbeing in a Ghanaian garment industry context.

Ethical Apparel Africa (EAA) and Ghana Training Apparel Association (GATA) participated to the apparel buyers’ tour host and funded by GIZ develoPPP project in Ghana from February 7th to 11th. This tour was an exceptional opportunity to connect new international clients to Ghana’s most advanced garment factories. Mr Kwesi Ofori Antwi, the Team Leader of the Strategic Anchor Industries at the Ministry of Trade and Industry said that "the objective for the promotion of Ghanaian garments is based on the classification strategy". Ghana is well positioned to compete globally and is now a key player in the international garment manufacture. 

“I chose to work in this industry because 75% of its workers are women,” she says. “And the gender dynamics are exactly as you’d expect: It’s pretty much all women at sewing machines and all men in management roles. Combined with the industry’s reputation for exploitation and poor working conditions, it’s one that’s ripe for change, and the scaled potential for women is huge.”

In Africa and across the globe, the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the fragility of manufacturing supply chains, particularly in relation to essential commodities for healthcare. It has forced a global recognition of local manufacturing and supply chains’ centrality to local health security. This report summarises findings from a webinar, hosted on 28 October 2020, which brought African manufacturers
in health-related industries together with engaged academics in India and Africa, and other professionals working on the regulation, distribution and industrial support in African countries. The webinar aimed to capture the immediate experience of manufacturing under Covid-19 conditions in Africa and India and to draw lessons for policy.

EAA was also featured in the Professional Clothing Industry Association Worldwide (PCIAW) for its incredibly quick response to the new COVID 19 pandemic.

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The Professional Clothing Industry Association Worldwide, the first and only UK Worldwide sector-specific trade body devoted to the multi-faceted professional clothing industry

To combat global shortages, EAA is working with its factory partners in Ghana (KAD Manufacturing, Alfie Designs and Maagrace) and Benin (ANC) to pivot manufacturing to essentially needed apparel and personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare providers. 

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These programs have been supported by USAID, DFID and GIZ who are all committed to supporting industry resilience, strengthening healthcare providers’ preparedness for pandemic response, promoting private sector growth and facilitating trade.

Dogs need to be busy during quarantine too! This article features both KONG and PAW5, two great US company whose well deigned dogs toys accessories are made in Ghana at KAD Manufacturing, one of EAA partner factories who has specialized in pets accessories in the last couple of years!

EAA's COO Paloma Schackert spoke at the Harvard Business School 'Africa Business Conference' on the Manufacturing panel alongside experts from the IFC and McKinsey on overcoming manufacturing challenges on the continent.

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1,000+ people from across the African continent and diaspora were brought together to discuss Africa's challenges and opportunities for the next two decades.

In their latest article, Fashion United digs into why is it so common for garment factory workers to be paid less than a living wage.

Part of the answer is the West’s appetite for cheap clothing. In short, if consumers are not paying for it, somebody else is. But Keren Pybus, co-founder of Ethical Apparel Africa (EAA), doesn’t think ethical production and cost-competitiveness are mutually exclusive.

USAID and EAA welcome USA companies to Accra to highlight Ghana and Benin’s growing apparel manufacturing industry and sourcing opportunities in apparel exports. The three day conference, led by EAA at the Movenpick Hotel, will enable brand sourcing executives from the U.S. to visit factories in Ghana and Benin, meet factory owners and engage with logistics and trade and export specialists in order to understand the benefits for their organization.

Alongside private sector partners DTRT, Gerber and Groz Beckert, EAA has collaborated with GIZ to launch a new develoPPP program to address vocational training needs for skilled managers and workers to drive the industry forward. This $2.4M project will establish a public Center of Excellence in Ghana for training in critical skill areas such as digital pattern-making, industrial engineering, and QC.

Carly Beischer, EAA Partnerships Director, spoke on a panel regarding building long-term mutually beneficial partnerships with brands. The President of Ghana gave the keynote address focused on the investment case for Ghana and his “Ghana Beyond Aid” vision.

EAA partnered with ANSI, USAID and the Standards Alliance to organize a training series in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire on apparel testing standards. More than 100 people attended, including national standards bodies/labs, manufacturers, and ministries of trade.

Paloma Schackert spoke alongside Oxfam, Center for Global Development and others at the annual Harvard LIDS conference on the theme of "development beyond aid" and the key role of social enterprise in catalyzing more sustainable supply chains. 

In a review of initiatives to slow and close the loop in the fashion industry, Ethical Apparel Africa is one of the examples showing that a sustainability strategy can deliver on both social and environmental objectives and ethical manufacturing can be tackled at supplier level. The report applauded EAA's focus on "waste reduction initiatives, use of renewable energy, lean (efficient) production processes, versatile production capabilities and rigorous quality systems."

EAA's model was highlighted as a model to promote positive supplier relations through dialogue: "Ethical Apparel Africa (EAA) is working to create a network of exceptional factories that deliver quality, cost-competitive products while empowering employees across Africa -- proving that ethical and cost-effective production are not mutually exclusive."

Brooklyn Industries highlighted the successful partnership, emphasizing: 

"providing regular, secure and fairly paid incomes for women is at the forefront of the project that Brooklyn has supported with its Africa range." Through their production, they have supported Linda Ampah's vision to give back to her workforce: "I seek to empower women at the fringes of society and have trained and employed dozens of homeless women"

Ashoka profiled Ethical Apparel Africa's innovative model for change, emphasizing: "Ethical Apparel Africa (EAA) is a social enterprise that’s taking the best of lean manufacturing principles and efficiencies and applying them not just to cut costs but to create sustainability and ethical employment...Brands are always looking for ways to save money, but increasingly they are looking to do that whilst investing in CSR activities and in 'doing the right thing'. EAA offers a trusted route to exploring a new continent while accomplishing both."