Take a look at the tag on any clothing item, or technology. Certain names are dominant; made in China, made in the USA, made in India, made in Korea. Where is “made in Africa”? Where “Africa” means owned and controlled by native Africans, and “made” means the cultural expression of African people.

The challenge before us, in the development struggle, is transforming the models of liberation from marching and boycotting to more practical economic models such as ownership. Where we create and own wealth-creating systems and use the power of the products we create to transform our world culturally and politically.

A new Africa means a new economic model which redresses one of the most critical dilemmas facing contemporary Africa—poverty. While the roots of poverty in Africa are well studied and debated to the point of exhaustion, one thing is clear; Trade is better than aid for a sustainable future of any community, country or continent. Africa has to end the cycle of being only a source of the World’s raw materials, buying back what it exported at a premium. The development of private business enterprise at every economic level. Africa must be competitive not only in pricing but also in innovation and quality.

 

 The African Development Bank continues to reiterate that low manufacturing and processing capacity is a major limiting factor for trade among African countries. Intra-African trade in manufacturing declined from 18% in 2005 to about 15% between 2010 and 2015. A decisive move would be a shift from raw mineral resources to high-value semi-processed and processed exports through a commodity-based industrialization process by adding value to domestic products. For every $1 of aid that developing countries receive, they lose $24 in net outflows. These outflows strip developing countries of an important source of revenue and finance for industrialization and development at large.(source)

When it comes to Africa’s own cultural expression there is no shortage of innovation. What is causing a problem is Africa’s failure to capitalize on its own cultural innovations to create tangible finished products for a global market. This then translates into a lack of options from Africa's genius, which means all we see is Asia, America and Europe at the consumer end. And since people must use final products for living the only convenient options are those from the manufacturing industrial giants with the distribution power to outdo even locally made products. 

Why should African people purchase designer brands from Europe and America? Like Hugo Boss and Calvin Klien—at exorbitant prices? Is there not enough artistic cultural expression to innovate, as Europe has done, an African designer brand? The problem here is one of the failure to capitalize on culture and the lack of capital to invest in such projects to produce viable alternatives to the fashion houses of Europe. So what actually happens in this failure to develop the cultural capital means others, from Europe and Asia, with capital, can and will come and exploit Africa’s cultural innovation for their own economic development. So today, most of the “African flavored” fabrics, apparel, etc might bear the name “Africa” but 90% of them are not made in Africa, or owned by Africans.

Aid is death, it stalls the future of a people, it creates dependency. Why would the richest continent, with all of the mineral resources and intellectual and cultural wealth be the poorest continent? Clearly, something is wrong. How could such 60,000 of self-sustaining cultures and economies now be in need of so much aid? Aid, which does nothing to free people from being dependent on ‘the other.”

Despite the variety of African clothing, the concept of shopping for it online is still a novelty. Ocacia is a designer brand, priced just right, to fill this gap in the market. It is time African people globally start wearing their own culture and creating industries around it. And it is critical to call out a trend in America where Made in China is branded as African labels and sold under the banner of Black Business. How is this progress? How is giving China your manufacturer role to make your brand products something to be proud of? It is a lazy anti-development approach.  

European-African Trade in enslaved Africans

Ocacia is an African company, which is owned and operated in Africa, 100% by Africans that innovates Ancient African cultural aesthetics to create contemporary African clothing apparel. Engaging and employing local African tailors and designers it creates a new market for African designs which are unique in being prêt-à-porte (ready-to-wear) but also haute couture at sometimes. People purchasing these unique African clothing are 1. Getting high-quality unique African clothing 2. Supporting and promoting Pan-African culture 3. Fostering industry 4. Reversing the trade deficit. 5. Creating opportunities for further development of similar projects. And we must remember before Africa can make planes, we must make cars before Africa can make cars we must learn to make bicycles. But before we can even think about making bicycles we will always need support for the bicycle industry. Without the initial support for the bicycle industry, we cannot start a conversation about cars, let alone bicycles. Everything comes in stages, and the first stage is support for what you see existing before you. These industries will continue to grow, creating more industries such as more local fabric factories, and maybe even local sewing machines, etc. But it has to start somewhere and that somewhere is with your choice to support. 

The map of the triangle trade hundred years ago is shockingly similar to the map from 2021. While African bodies are no longer traded as chattel there is a brain drain out of Africa into the developed world and trade in European American and Asian final goods into Africa. Nothing comes out of our motherland but raw materials. And this situation has not changed. And look at the final goods we traded African captives for; guns (to acquire more captives), alcohol (to piss away in one night), and clothes so nothing has changed, Ideologically nothing has really changed in terms of our attitude to trade. Economically nothing has changed. And while we could argue that Europeans came with force, what is our excuse for China? Yet we remain in the same boat. Clearly, the problem is also deeply internal. 

Made in Africa is therefore the language of a future generation, which is walking away from the old image of impoverished and creating a new image of Africa. An Africa, which can do for itself, innovate and be competitive in this globalized world. 


WHY WE ARE BEHIND THE CURVE

Cultural disparity: If you study this photo and see how these kids represent their culture you will see something telling. Only one African boy (our boy) is wearing comparable cultural clothing. All the Indian children are 100% represented in proper Indian attire (which they all have at their homes, every last one of them).
 
Nelson Mandela approves Whites to make his official African clothes.
Nelson Mandela approves Whites to make his official African clothes. Supported globally by the Nelson Mandela Trust
 
Sometimes we do not understand what these things mean, because we have been so numbed out and normalized outside of our African reality to notice what is very odd about most of us *Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, etc. excluded*. And remember this is in Africa, not Aruba. We all have "culture" no doubt, but are all our cultures equally developed? Beyond political correctness hell no!
 
Think about economically and what that means for Indians vs Africans globally. In the UK I do not know one Indian (2nd,3rd generation Diaspora) that does not have their cultural clothes in their wardrobe— what about us in the Diaspora? And all of those Indian clothes in the photo fill up their closet and are made in India! All of them might be from South Africa but they buy from their mother continent. Now think about who would have an advantage culturally and economically in a competitive world.
 
No one speaking about the Great Civilizations of Africa shows a mud hut, they will always show Egypt, Ethiopia, West Africa etc. No need to get offended but that is the way it goes. And when we understand that, the path Ocacia has taken will be clear.

CHANGE OUR RELATIONSHIP

People will suggest we adjust our view on racism so that driving a donkey vs flying a plane is treated as the same with no value judgment. This is a poor understanding of human nature which is inclined to favor the most advanced thing. Because anyone can do easy, but very few can do hard. So value is added to the thing that few can do.

In the real world goods and services have value. Some groups (ethnic, racial, cultural or national) also have a "value" like we said Made in Japan has a value, and Made in Germany has a value. Made in China has another evolving value. Made in Switzerland has value because for 100s of years of messing around with watches Switzerland has a reputation for producing some of the best timepieces in the world. But we have no such legacy (anymore) so "Made in Africa' has no value in the global marketplace. This is not identity politics this is raw cold economics. When the Japanese outsource their sewing machines (in this case Juki) to China, the Juki name takes a drive. So they print "Designed in Japan". Steinway makes pianos in New York and Germany, the German Steinways fetch more and have a slightly higher value.

When you are confused about these things it means you live somewhere else, may Tatooine but you cannot be from planet Earth. And our confusion as a people on the issues of economics is one of our greatest failures. We do not GET IT. A few months ago we spoke about DJI and their drones. I would love to see the most racist person on Earth talk bad about Made in China and mention DJI. What can you say? "oh, Chinese junk" not a chance. And that is what matters in the real world. Hate the Swiss or not, what can you say about their watches?


EASY PATH TO MONEY

If it is only about money then there is an easier path. Just sketch some designs, email them to Wang in China and have them make up our clothes, and then sell them on Etsy under the hashtag buy black. We can then sell clothes at $30 - $50. How many people would care? A market that is ignorant about development is not thinking long-term about any of their choices. The price is right the market buys and we are rich. Everyone is happy.
 
2 days our site on our servers went down. It cost a lot of time and money to fix what turned out to be a simple problem. There are no such problems when you sell your clothes on eBay or Etsy's black-owned stores' department. You also have a lot of time to get a big following on FB. You do not need a media department, an iPhone will do fine. You do not need to service machines either, since the Chinese make everything for you.
 
But then do we develop? NO! And 3022 will come and go and someone will still have to make a post like this.

ADD VALUE

Nike Kills African Clothing culture

We like to show you guys the process of making our clothes so that you would gain an insider's appreciation. Out of this appreciation comes value. We have already identified from every possible angle the great epic issue facing Africans today and it is largely economic, but the economics comes out of our mindset, so then that is an identity issue. Because identities (however we create them) create mindsets and attitudes. Someone added value to Swiss watches, and someone added value to Japanese denim so today they can fetch $1000 for a pair of Japanese jeans. Today proper African art can fetch big money also, but unfortunately, we (the Africans) are not the target market for that, just like for all the amazing jazz out there we are no longer the target market for our own culture.

Some said, "What percentage of Africans can afford luxury clothes?" But we look at this question with curiosity. Because when you break down "black spending" it is pretty clear that from Samsung to Tommy they are heavily patronized by our people. None of them complain of lack of market for their goods. Yet when it comes to African products the question of $$ seems to come up. So for anyone curious go and research "black spending" even in South Africa. Because no one in G-Star is closing down. I have never been able to figure out how come a brand-new mall got built in the middle of the poorest townships and every shop is packed. The Brand Names run this continent yet they ask "Who can afford African handmade clothes" Wow. You think about our mental condition and get back to me. Only us running an African business have to deal with these questions.

I reflect on it "Who can afford these clothes"? Maybe the same people can go to Buffalo Wild Wings and drop $300. Or my friend in NY who spend $400 on Chinese clothes in one sitting. Or the person in the front row of Rihanna's concert, or the entire family off to see Black Panther 4 times. What we are dealing with is a kind of Double Consciousness. Our world and someone else's world. The rules for our world are price-conscious, the rules for their world are not!


INCOMPETENT

It is easy to say Made in Africa, it is easy to demand these things but there is nothing on Earth we can do unless we have the skills to do them. They could return the trillions of dollars made from slavery to us today and it would not mean we can do for ourselves unless we have the skills. In Durban, in 2022 we were approached by a TV show called Made in Africa. They were supposed to discuss fashion made in Africa. The organizers or the disorganizers had no organization skillsets and could not even book hotels, flights, or even reply to emails (not knowing how to open emails properly) and these are the people discussing Made in Africa. This is a perfect example of why we are where we are. Incompetence is not punished as they were funded twice so far for this project. Nothing about it speaks of professionalism. And despite claiming they had done it before struggled just as much the second time around. Ocacia was invited to participate and in the 11th hour they could not muster enough brain cells to book a hotel for us and update us with an email— So we canceled the circus show. If this is what passes for Made in Africa then Nairobi, we have an impossible problem on our hands. How can we get to finished goods when we are incapable of basic organizing and modern forms of communicating?  

There are lots of fakes out there taking terms like Made in Africa, Diaspora, and Pan-Africanism and they honestly just use these words to pretty up their empty-headed write-ups. Fool people who are impressed by fancy words.
 
We got approached by the Made in Africa team thing going on in South Africa and said "Why did you exclude the Diaspora?" and they replied " we did not, people are coming from all over Africa" LOL. They do not know the first, second or third thing that they on about. Red flag Get out! get out fast.
 
I heard the Barbadian PM Mia talking about encouraging people to film in Barbados and blah blah blah. Ask her to name one historical film which included Barbados that has been shown on Barbadian TV? You see Barbadian TV never wanted to show 500 Years Later.
 
We have a lot of BS out there. Do not believe what is printed on the package. Pretty words and pretty talk will never rebuild our continent. Work does that! Authentic work. People will steal our phrases, our revolutionary intonations but they cannot replicate what they barely understand.
 

EMPTY BOTTLES

It is nice to create things (like in South Africa we have heritage day). But it is even more important to fill these creations with some content. It is like having an African technology day and there is no technology. Or an African Sci-Fi film festival with no sci-fi films. It is just empty. Black History Month, yet no history. And this is how a lot of things are, just tokenism. So if we say Made in Africa, we need a real Made in Africa

MEANS OF PRODUCTION

If I said Ocacia is different because we own all the means of production that statement means next to nothing to 99% of our people. And thus we can put no true value on it. It cannot even be a development target since its power is not appreciated.

Because we do not have as a global people a business culture. We are largely consumers of other people's finished products or labor units to help others create final goods. If you said it in China it would also not mean much because it is obvious to them as stating humans breathe air. They have no other concept other than owning the means of production while in Africa we have no concept of it period. We have lived our entire lives seeing everything but us owning the means of production. We have seen Marvel make films where we get hired to direct and act. We see food products that we eat where we are the labor only( cutting sugar cane and packaging the sugar). We have seen us with top jobs in someone else's production factory but as for owning an entire industry that is out of sight and hence for Ocacia to discuss it, we might as well be discussing xenolinguistics.

It is really cool to see others do Kemetic fashion and everything conscious just like us but I will tell you one thing that they don't do like us. You see all of our clothes were made by us. Not Chinese in China. That is authentic. They never ever mention where their African clothes are made, you will never see tailors or sewing machines or wounded fingers from needle strikes. Blackened fingertips from hand-washing denim.


WHAT ARE WE UP AGAINST?

This is what Africa is up against. We do not make phones so America (iPhone) and Korea (Samsung) and Huawei (China) will fight that war without us. We do not make cars so BMW (Germany), Ford (USA), Tata (India), Honda (Japan) will fight it out without us. But in the war for fashion Ocacia wants to make sure we are no longer in the 16th century or look like we just came from a circus.

So we must not let political correctness cloud our understanding of the issue. Because if the world is at the level shown above and we are here:

How does the above "culture" represent Africa in 21st century? 


CONCLUSION

Opportunities in African culture go to WhitesBecause if we have no African storybooks, and someone out of the blue wrote a storybook on say Mansa Musa and you are looking at it and unmoved then you have betrayed your moral obligation to support. And it is a moral obligation that you are presented with if you have the means. And God knows your heart. If you rather go and buy Indian people's dead hair with the money, or some bag made in China, or a European-styled dress then that is your choice. But every choice has consequences and let us never be confused about the consequences of our choices. It is not White supremacy or the man— it is our choices.

The greatest challenge facing every African is getting our services and final goods, may they be clothes or films, to the same standard as the rest of the world. It is a resource issue as well as an educational issue. Very few of us have a complete skillset to do this on our own. And I know someone will say, but so and so is doing this. Please see our clip on Made in Africa because for all these people doing it how is it islands like the UK and Japan produce global brands and all we have are these orphan stories of 'black success '? Who are we fooling? Seriously now.

After a few of us navigate the impossible world of quality and proper business practices (professional platforms, service delivery ????) we are stopped dead in our tracks by support. Support is an alien word in the African mind. It is like that gree stuff that makes Superman weak. Say support and your organic reach drops to zero. You can speak to the most pro-Black person and it just doesn't register that you are discussing THEIR support not support as an abstract construction. Again people will suggest that clearly, people support, sure some do but what percentage? Going back to the first argument. If there was support why is Marvel unchallenged and still the only source of African sci-Fi fictional feature films on the market?

 www.ocacia.com