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<\/p>\nAfter frequent fire outbreaks at the Kumasi Central market in 2016 and 2017, and a planned demolition exercise to clear up space, countless business were on the verge of closing, including Epton Owusu\u2019s \u201814 family\u2019s Kente business.<\/p>\n
Epton had grown up around Kente, one of Ghana\u2019s most indigenous cloths and storied piece of cultural identity. The family came into the business two generations ago, when his grandmother started trading the cloth in her teens. She would later pass it on to her daughter, Epton\u2019s mother, who for the next 40 years, grew and expanded the business.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe potential closing down and the fires posed a major threat to the survival of a longstanding family trade – the Kente business,\u201d he explained.\u201d This made me very uneasy.\u00a0 As such, I had to think of creative ways to preserve the family legacy, make it sustainable and position it digitally to compete on a global scale.\u00a0 Thus, the conceptualisation of\u00a0Woven Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Epton promptly abandoned his investment banking job, and dived headlong into the kente business, founding Woven Africa, alongside two other alums. He was immediately faced with his first hurdle –\u00a0 sourcing the kente while trying to raise money.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not have enough capital to start producing the full cloth,\u201d he explained. \u201cFor this reason,\u00a0I had to think of ways to break down the kente business into fragments\u00a0to make the business commercial and manageable. Hence, the kente stole came into mind. I noticed this product was a popular accessory in the United States,\u00a0among African American and Hispanic high school and college graduates. I also realised colleges and high schools in Ghana were picking up on the trend, using kente stoles as part of the graduation regalia. Here, I found a way to tap into the market and send the traditional cloth as far as possible.”<\/p>\n
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In over a year, Woven Africa has grown steadily, serving multiple clients in Ghana and in the diaspora. To ensure quality production, Epton shuffles between the Volta and Ashanti region, sourcing kente from some of the indigenous weaving towns in Ghana. In some of the villages, he has helped build a collective of weavers who are benefitting from contracts he brings them, and today his supply chain model is helping to serve close to 20 small weaving families throughout villages in the Ashanti and Volta regions.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMost of the kente weaving towns are becoming ghost towns, with the youth either migrating to Accra, or to Kumasi, in search of greener pastures,\u201d he explained. \u201cWith a constant stream of income, these people can stay and continue to help produce some of the best kente for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
On a daily basis, Epton is on the go, meeting with clients and potential clients, working with weavers and designers in producing new designs, all on a mission to push kente beyond the shores of Ghana. In recent months, the business has also started producing wooden carvings to its product line.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe future looks very bright,\u201d he says. \u201cWe plan on introducing our own patterns, expanding our product lines and getting more involved in the community where our stoles are produced to fulfil my vision to send the Ghanaian heritage as far as possible. One of the things I learnt from Ashesi was to add value \u2013 what started as a mission to protect a family legacy is adding value to one of Ghana\u2019s most important pieces of identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: Ashesi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After frequent fire outbreaks at the Kumasi Central market in 2016 and 2017, and a planned demolition exercise to clear up space, countless business were on the verge of closing, including Epton Owusu\u2019s \u201814 family\u2019s Kente business. Epton had grown up around Kente, one of Ghana\u2019s most indigenous cloths and storied piece of cultural identity. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":411244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[18114,6287],"yoast_head":"\n