A model showcases colorful traditional attire on the runway at an African fashion show, highlighting Africa’s rich cultural heritage and style.
A recent investigation by the UK’s Sunday Times alleges modeling agencies have been exploiting young women from Africa by making promises of bright futures and then abandoning them with debt. By targeting refugee camps, the agencies are taking advantage of women in desperate straits, luring them to Europe for casting calls, and then charging them for the privilege if they fail to win contracts. A number of aspiring models from the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Turkana County, Kenya, are at the center of this investigation. The investigation revealed that Nigerian businesswoman Joan Okorodudu, also known as Mama or Auntie Joan, signed models to her agency, Isis Models, and then marketed them to larger agencies like Select Model Management.