On the 22nd of Feb Conde Nast College of Fashion held an event announcing a significant new initiative from Roberta Annan and the African Fashion Foundation in partnership with the college, to create a full annual scholarship for an African student to take a degree at the College. They also announced a new, affordable educational platform for aspiring fashion creatives from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Roberta Annan and African Fashion Foundation team up with prestigious London college announcing a new scholarship and affordable course for aspiring fashion creatives from the Sub-Saharan region.

Roberta Annan’s African Fashion Foundation or AFF (https://africanfashionfoundation.org) is joining forces with the highly prestigious Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design in London (www.Condénastcollege.ac.uk/) to provide life-changing educational opportunities for African students.

The Roberta Annan Scholarship (named after the founder of the AFF) is a two-part programme which will fund a new student each year to study at the College. Initially, the successful candidate will take the College’s Vogue Foundation Programme and then move on to a BA (Hons) Fashion Communication & Industry Practice. Their tuition fees and living expenses will all be included in the scholarship grant.

Roberta Annan says, “This is a wonderful opportunity for some truly creative and entrepreneurial individuals from Africa to be able to study at one of the most prestigious fashion colleges in the world. Africa is overflowing with creative young people with drive and vision, and this scholarship will change not only their lives, but the lives of the people in the communities where they will hopefully launch great businesses, armed with this training. I’m very proud and optimistic that this partnership will make a real difference.”

Launching at the same time will be a second initiative, Global Fashion Perspectives. College CEO, Nick Isles says, “The idea is to explore ways to bring about new international collaborations in the fashion industry through bringing together views from diverse global and regional voices. The aim of the programme is to exchange knowledge, develop thinking, influence attitudes and policy and increase understanding. There will be a lot of elements to this including events, symposia, research, publishing, student engagement, new curricula, and new policy ideas. The first part, and this is really exciting for us, is the launch of a bespoke trio of online programmes created for and targeted specifically at Sub-Saharan Africa. These course modules will be about, Styling & Creative Direction, The Business of Luxury and Digital Content Creation & Contemporary Marketing Strategies.”

The programmes are being developed with the African Fashion Foundation and the Centre for International African Fashion Education (CIAFE) and will be marketed specifically to the African fashion and media industries and the professionals who work therein. The programme will be heavily discounted to be affordable for potential candidates from the Sub-Saharan region.

Frederica Brooksworth is founder and Executive Director of CIAFE. She says, "CIAFE is specifically committed to improving the standards of Fashion Education in Africa by creating partnerships between academia and the industry. This collaboration will not only provide opportunities for businesses and individuals in Africa to learn, but will also promote a two-way knowledge exchange. We are all enriched by the things we pick up from each other."

Lisa Mann from the College is constructing the course and says, “The Global Fashion Perspectives programme is being specifically designed to be in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. That was something all the partners were very committed to in coming up with the idea.”

The UN Sustainable Development goals that the project will be aligned with are:

· Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

· Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

· Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

· Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns