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Celebrated South Africa-based Zimbabwen designer Rumbie Madzivanyika Muzofa is set to represent the country at the Africa Fashion Reception which is to be held in Abuja July 3 to 5. The fashion reception which was officially launched in Paris last year, will this year be hosted by the Nigerian Government under the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation in conjunction with World Fashion Organization.

The Abuja event will see fashion icons, first ladies, ambassadors and the who-is-who of fashion industry from about 40 countries taking part.

Rumbie, through her brand Rumbie By Rumbie, will have the opportunity to showcase what Zimbabwe has to offer as well as open channels to sell both her brand and Zimbabwe as a tourism destination of choice.

In a telephone interview, the designer expressed delight for being nominated to represent the country at the fashion event.

“Currently we are running around making final preparations for the event but it is a real honour to be representing the country and we will do our best to show what comes from Zimbabwe,” said the designer.

The African Fashion Reception 2014 edition will run for three consecutive days and will see designers from participating countries gearing up to present what their countries have to offer as only one designer from each country has been selected.

A vigorous selection process was conducted to come up with a single representative from the participating countries with each country providing an average of 17 designers, executive board of the AFR announced in a press statement.

“There will be three consecutive days of fashion shows and exhibitions for fashion designers and accessory producers from all over the continent.

“The selection process was rigorous as an average of nine to 17 entries were received from designers in each of the participating African countries,” noted the statement.

The event which is set to become an annual craze will be host on rotational basis with each participating country poised to host it at some point.