By Gabriel Ewepu and Favour Ulebor

ABUJA- ONE of Africa’s leading fashion houses, AFRICANA Charitable Foundation, has delved into a lifesaving venture by committing to help Nigerians tackle kidney failure by sponsoring one free dialysis treatment for persons infected.

The good news was made known by the Chief Executive Officer, AFRICANA Fashion, Charles Oronsaye, while giving a remark during its runway show to unveil its latest SS24 Collection, ‘The Art of Life’, in collaborations with Tecno, The Macallan, MAC, and Kairos Hof in Abuja.

According to Oronsaye, AFRICAN 17 Charitable Foundation is a formal initiative to support Nigeria’s healthcare sector with the aim to support underprivileged communities.

He said; “Setting up this Foundation reflects my lifelong aspiration to use fashion as a force for good, aiming to support underprivileged communities and demonstrate the potentially impactful role of our industry in societal welfare.

“The Foundation’s first project is to raise funds for two dialysis machines for the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), providing free treatment as a part of Africana’s commitment to social responsibility, thereby blending the world of fashion with a deep sense of empathy and care for the community.

“The Foundation is basically geared towards the health sector. As a brand, one of our social good this year is to raise money for us to buy two dialysis machines that will run at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, one treatment per person for free and we hope to use sales of our products to raise that fund and enjoin all our partners and customers to that effect.

“So we are trying to not only show our dexterity in fashion, we are saying that we have empathy and humanity in us as well.”

Meanwhile, on the effort and contribution made by his organisation to reduce unemployment and boost Nigeria’s economy, he said 300 people have been engaged.

“We have 300 people on set today, we feed them breakfast, lunch and dinner, and everybody’s been paid, none is voluntarily, everyone has been catered for. And as a brand, we have over 75 staff, this is primarily from our pocket and we have decided to do this ourselves”, he said.

He also added that, “This is our first runway event, so we want to expand the process, our CSR on our consumer range and reach. We are currently in three countries, Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire, and Nigeria.

“This has been my childhood dream and an inspiration to many upcoming fashion brands in Nigeria. To those seeing this, it is an avenue to say, you don’t need to wait, you can save up and do it on your own and the world will applaud you.”

Speaking on the runway fashion event, he explained that, “It is a runway event unveiling the collection called Art of Life and we are using that medium to bring about two things, we are showing creativity in the city of Abuja, and we are showing culture as well, and we are using this avenue to make known our charity Foundation as well.

“The runway featured a range of designs which includes, Art of Living (Lounge Wear) Effortlessly stylish loungewear that creates a relaxed atmosphere, Art of Culture (Kaftans and Agbada) Elegant traditional African attire that celebrates our society’s rich heritage, Art of Urban (Street Wear) contemporary street-wear with vibrant AFRICAN inspired art.”