Photo credit: Courtesy of Dziffa Akua
“Dear Afrocentrists, ‘African Prints’ Are Not from Africa‘”
At the beginning of the year, Face2Face Africa Contributor Dziffa Akua caused a stir on the Internet, after she daringly revealed that most of the “African fabrics” being sold in the United States and other parts of the world are not from Africa. Akua was referring to the influx of counterfeit African prints that are being sold to the international consumer as authentic African products.
“African prints have no connection to the continent whatsoever and they are destroying our local fabric industry. To make matters worse, African market women are importing them and selling them to tourists as African,” Akua wrote.
However, she later wrote another piece acknowledging the fact that there are authentic African prints in the market that haven’t been affected by counterfeits. The sudden change of opinion came after she visited a popular Ghanaian beadmaker, Mr. Cedi, who confessed to her that his work has taken him to all corners of the world. He revealed that his customers come from as far as Brazil.
