Alphadi A well-known fashion designer, Niger's Alphadi is devoted to bringing African fashion to the fore. In his many travels around the continent by caravan, he searches out and promotes talent and lobbies decision-makers on the contribution fashion makes to economic development, particularly given the job-creating potential of areas such as textiles, jewellery and leather goods.

Anggy Haif, based in Yaoundé Cameroon, is a self-taught designer, singer, composer and model who aims to promote African culture through fashion and music. On the fashion front, he marries modern textiles with natural materials, such as raphia, roots, liana, leaves and other gathered items. On the music front, he links modern and traditional sounds and is part of the Abialy percussion group.

Kofi Ansah, an avant-garde Ghanaian designer, is well-known internationally. Born to a family of artists, he graduated with honours from Chelsea School of Art in fashion design and design technology. After 20 years in Europe where he worked for Guy Laroche in Paris and Cecil Gee in London, he returned to Ghana in 1992 to contribute to the development of the Ghanaian clothes industry.