The recent global demand and discussion of African fashion have led to astounding boosts in sales in the industry. Some of the African designers and brands have even caught the eyes of international personalities, such as Michelle Obama, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Thandie Newton. This billion-dollar market has birthed a need for African e-commerce fashion platforms that would create structures for both catering global demands and helping upcoming brands to thrive.

Fashpa.com is a Nigerian company that is leveraging technology to create a one-stop shop for fashion. Moreover, this fashion retailer is even vertically integrated, as it designs, manufactures, and distributes its line of clothing. Honey Ogundeyi is the brain behind Fashpa and comes from a family of entrepreneurs – “I thrived when I was tasked with growing a business or starting something from scratch.” Moreover, in her interview with Forbes, she continues explaining how fashion and technology have always been her biggest passions. Honey took those passions and worked on an idea that she is very passionate about, which was – how to make fashion more accessible in Africa.

Regarding Fashpa (stands for Fashion Parade), it has started due to the frustration of not being able to access quality fashion after Honey moved back to Nigeria. Africans have the same sophisticated taste for fashion, but the only thing separating them from (for instance) London, is access to that fashion. That is why Honey has taken it upon herself to merge fashion and technology to create an online fashion platform targeted at style-conscious consumers.

It has started as an idea for solving access to fashion and now has developed into a powerful business model and a renewed focus on how to solve the issue. Moreover, African Fashion Industry is worth over $50 billion, so why import foreign brands, when there are creations worth the attention of even internationally known personas?