Aid in Action
Africa Pavilion Wins MAGIC "Best of Show"
Collaboration leads to win over 1,350 other exhibitors
Las Vegas, Nevada
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Photo: ECA Trade Hub
The Source Africa Pavilion at the MAGIC Trade and Apparel Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The USAID-sponsored Source Africa Pavilion has been awarded the distinction of “Best of Show” at the MAGIC Fashion and Apparel Trade Show. This year the event, founded in 1933 as an annual show hosted by the Men's Apparel Guild in California, featured around 1,350 exhibitors. MAGIC has become the largest, most comprehensive apparel and accessory trade event in the U.S., bringing together retail buyers from around the world.
The Source Africa Pavilion was an exceptional collaborative effort from the USAID-funded ECA Trade Hub, Southern Africa Trade Hub and West Africa Trade Hub. This was the first time the three trade hubs worked together on an exhibition and involved 15 companies from across Africa, including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. Four companies from East Africa were represented at the show. The pavilion held a strategic position in the Sourcing Hall, and according to MAGIC Sourcing organizers David Pennes and Jessie Zhang, it “put Africa on the map” as a viable apparel sourcing option.
Judging by the buyer interest, volume and range of discussion held at the pavilion, the companies have good reason to be optimistic about potential deals.
IRIS Madagascar, one of the participating East African companies, also received ECA Hub in-field technical assistance and sponsorship to attend the MAGIC show in August 2007. As a result, interest from U.S. buyers rocketed and the company reported exports valued at nearly $600,000 in 2007. Significantly, prior to the ECA Hub's intervention the company had never exported to the U.S. Having established solid business relationships with a handful of U.S. buyers, the company expects exports to the U.S. to rise to over $900,000 in 2008 and to approach the $1 million mark by 2009. Technical assistance and trade fair support have so far produced over US $14 million in incremental export sales for enterprises in East Africa.
The next MAGIC show will be held August 25-27, 2008.