Craftastics Zimbabwe

07/10/2026

Cohort 2 of the AfriCircular Innovators Programme

Supported by the African Development Bank’s Africa Circular Economy Facility (ACEF), in collaboration with the African Circular Economy Alliance (ACEA), the programme is led by Impact Hub Harare alongside country partners. It aims to support 120 businesses across Zimbabwe, Angola, Benin, and São Tomé & Príncipe to strengthen solutions that reduce waste, keep materials in use, and create economic value.

The programme focuses on five priority sectors:

Circular Food Systems

Plastics & Packaging

Textiles & Fashion

Electronics & E-waste

Built Environment

Selected businesses will benefit from practical training, one-on-one coaching, circular economy expertise, investment-readiness support, and regional networking, alongside an opportunity to compete for €10,000 mini-grants.

We would appreciate your support in sharing this opportunity with relevant businesses in your network, particularly those working in reuse, repair, recycling, value addition, and resource efficiency. You are also welcome to refer suitable businesses to our team for application guidance. All applicants will undergo the programme’s eligibility and selection process.

Programme information and application form:
https://bit.ly/AfriCircular2

05/07/2026

June brought us 14 young women who participated in our Textile Upcycling Workshop ... commissioned by Dialogue on Shelter. On Day 2, we trained our participants to apply creative thinking to craft jewellery and rugs using handcrafting skills we taught them ie. braiding, crotchet and hand sewing skills. We look forward to see them generate income from these skills.

03/07/2026

Funded by Dialogue on Shelter, we recently wrapped a Climate Change Mitigation Practical Craft Workshop 🌍🧵 in Epworth

The mission: Upcycle textile waste into commercialisable products to divert waste from landfills.

Day 1 Focus: Bag making using Human-Centred Design Approach + Design Thinking Process

The participants were young unemployed women, including teen moms. We designed bags on paper and brought them to life through hand sewing.

90% of the participants did not know basic hand sewing. We had to teach them from scratch. This has changed our approach. We realised: You cannot achieve upcycling without basic handcrafting techniques and we are adding handsewing lessons to our training package.

Thank you Dialogue on Shelter, for funding and collaborating with us to unlock entrepreneurial skills for these young women to generate income using waste.

Participants received not only training but crafting tool kits to use as they start their projects.
🎊🎉

09/06/2026

Uniquely Yours 🎉 text up your rugs

05/06/2026

Many thanks to our customers, partners and sponsors who are supporting us to close the textile loop ... just as nature operates in closed loop systems. 🎊🎉🥳

28/05/2026

Waste is a Raw Material. Whenever you are about to throw away something, think thrice .
If you have some old clothing/jeans or any fabric material that you want to discard please do send us a message and we will create something for you ☺️

Waste is not the end of the cycle,it is the beginning of opportunity.

Through sustainable practices, we transform what is discarded into lasting value for people, wildlife, and the environment.

26/05/2026

Our 1st Rural training : What we saw on the road to Choruwa confirmed our assumptions ‼️

Old clothes caught in tree branches...as a result of DUMPING ! That’s how 95% waste is being disposed in Zimbabwean communities.

This Africa Day, 20 women in Choruwa, Murehwa decided to do something about it. Instead of dumping, they’re now upcycling.

Trained by Craftastics Zimbabwe in partnership with Thallo Thinkers, these women are now designing and crafting rag rugs, bags and jewellery from their own old clothing.

Women drive 60% of fast fashion 🫣🫣 so it only makes sense that we lead the solution.

We’re proud to walk with Ruwadzano RweMadzimai Salvation Army Choruwa Corps as they begin upcycling as a business.
Next comes the mentorship phase until they’re selling and earning.

Happy Africa Day from us and the Choruwa Corps!

14/05/2026

Give your old/unwanted jeans a new life.

08/04/2026

Scenes from the recent 2026 Water Summit by Ecovision

28/03/2026

The 2026 Water Summit

We exhibited our waste-to-wealth products, showcasing the Water and Textile Waste nexus.

In Harare, textile waste management and water supply are linked through environmental pollution. Unmanaged textile waste can clog drains, causing flooding and contaminating water sources.

Textile waste often ends up in landfills, which can leak chemicals and heavy metals into groundwater, affecting potable water supplies. Harare's water treatment plants struggle to remove these pollutants, increasing water production costs and straining the city's water resources.

Community based recycling initiatives such as work being done by Craftastics Zimbabwe aim to reduce textile waste and promote responsible production and consumption of textiles. However, more efforts are still needed to address the scale of the problem and protect Harare's water supply.

The Water Summit brought together stakeholders from government, private sector and academia, highlighting the urgent need for a unified approach to secure Zimbabwe’s water future.
Many thanks to Ecovision the host, event sponsors, partners and organisors for the Water Summit.
Special mention to Ecovision for hosting this national Summit. Ecovision is a water engineering and management firm in Zimbabwe focusing on supplying us with clean water, led by the Visionary Entrepreneur, Eng Cleopatra Ashley Ngwenya-Dube.