Lagos partners with UNDP to drive global market access for local fashion and leather enterprises

By Imisioluwa Afunmiso

The Lagos State Government has secured a strategic partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to tackle trade barriers, scale up local production, and launch Lagos-made fashion and leather products into international retail markets.

The Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, made the disclosure during the two-day Fashion, Leather, and Creative Enterprise Spotlight held at the Senator Oluremi Tinubu Industrial Leather Hub in Mushin.

Organized by the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment alongside the UNDP, the summit, themed “Stitch, Scale and Sell: Crafting Prosperity,” brought together artisans, designers, and development economists to design frameworks for exporting Nigerian creative goods.

Benson-Awoyinka stated that while Lagos remains the creative capital of the continent, local talent must be supported by structured policy to convert raw creativity into global commercial wealth.

“The future of our creative economy depends on transforming talent into sustainable, high-yielding enterprises that create industrial jobs and compete globally,” the Commissioner stated.

To achieve this, Benson-Awoyinka revealed that the state-UNDP alliance will focus directly on resolving systemic bottlenecks that have historically limited small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa.

The intervention will target international payment system integration, quality standardisation, export logistics, and regional trade pathways under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

She added that the ministry will ramp up trade missions and international exhibitions to connect indigenous designers with foreign buyers, while urging local creators to prioritize intellectual property protection and professional manufacturing standards.

The summit concluded with calls from industry experts for increased private equity funding to support the specialized machinery and technical training infrastructure available at the Mushin leather hub.