ACCRA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Africa's economic emancipation will move faster if authentic fashion of the continent is made an integral part of its economic agenda, Ghana's Minister for Tourism, Catherine Afeku remarked here on Friday.

Opening the African Union Fashion Show, the minister noted that the surest way to sustain the industry was for Africans themselves to show faith in indigenously made African clothes.

The minister further underscored the need for paradigm shift and re-thinking through a value chain approach to see the contribution that a "Made-in-Africa" brand can bring to the economies.

"Targeting the fashion industry means targeting the whole value chain. The fashion industry in particular holds considerable potential to promote and bring change to some of the disadvantaged people especially women and the youth while advancing structural transformation," she stressed.

She said the government of Ghana by that realization was promoting the industry by investing in vocational training for the youth of the country.

"We are committed to promoting the fashion and textile industry and made-in-Ghana goods under the general broad policy of Eat Ghana; Wear Ghana and Feel Ghana. This policy introduced the Wednesday and Friday wears," Afeku added.

The two-day exhibition under the theme:" Sustaining Africa's Authentic Fashion and Clothing," was organized by the William Edward Burghardt Du Bois Memorial Center for Pan-African Culture and the Accra Technical University to showcase the enormous potentials of the rich traditional African fashion designs based on authentic African art forms. Enditem