Côte d'Ivoire

<p style='margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;'><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The proposed project, funded by the global energy conglomerate ENI S.p.A. of Italy through their subsidiary ENI Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire Ltd, will contribute to improve the livelihoods of fashion and lifestyle Artisans and Designers, by enabling them to become more competitive and increase their involvement in fashion production in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire.&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;'><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A production hub will be set up with both sustainable production and product development capacities, giving artisans / producers in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire a structured supply chain for bags and garments, and enabling designers in the region to produce high-quality goods. The project will focus on 1) socially sustainable production, and 2) green fashion that is made using natural and/or environmentally-sound materials and processes.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;'><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The project&rsquo;s main work areas are: (1) to build and strengthen the operational capacities of the hub; and (2) to build sustainable production capacities in the whole supply chain and for women and young artisans, through training and technical advisory services aligned with market demands.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>

<p>The project aims to support the organizational capacity, technical skills, service portfolio and analytical tools of regional and national organisations to improve the understanding and management of agri-food related policies and services in the ECOWAS region by:</p><ul><li><a name="_Hlk117017537">Strengthening the ECOWAS Commission coordination process and instruments related to agri-food trade;&nbsp;</a></li><li>Designing sustainable and gender sensitive agri-food trade facilitation instruments;</li><li>Improving the service portfolio of businesses support organizations to better serve the needs of agri-food businesses involved in regional trade</li></ul>

<p>Africa Fashion and Textile Network (Africa FAN) Phase 2 forms a part of the Special Initiative Training and Job Creation by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to contribute to the implementation of the Marshall Plan with Africa and the investment partnership G20 Compact with Africa.</p><p>The project aims to increase volume of sourcing by international buyers from African T&amp;A producers leading to job creation in local T&amp;A industries under the lead of the Special Initiative&rsquo;s global and country programmes in SI partner countries. Expected outcome of the project is increased participation of African textile and apparel suppliers in trade and investment.</p><p>The project will be implemented between August 2022 and July 2023 with a total budget of 243.012 EUR.</p>