West Africa

• Asante Kente:^[8][9][10] The Asante were the dominant people of West Africa's Gold Coast, present-day Ghana. Controlling the only source of gold available, the Asante traded with other African states and later with Europeans after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century. With their wealth and a rich source of gold, they made all forms of jewelry, amulets, and talismans from the gold. In the 18th century, the Asante acquired knowledge of the strip weaving technique from Bondoukou through trade that is seen in the present-day Ivory Coast. The Asante became respected for strip-weaving kente cloths in cotton and silk in the weaving village of Bonwire. The term kente means basket and refers to the checkerboard pattern of the cloths. The cotton for early Kente was locally grown, but the silk was imported since silk moths a. eotton not indigenous to Ghana. In present day, kente is found worn across the population, however its use is still concentrated among high society members and the wealthy. This stems from its long history of association with Asante royalty, who had also used it to denote their spiritual power, documented through later findings in their shrines to deities.
• Ewe Kente: Kente cloth is also worn by the Ewe,located in Ghana and Togo and Benin Republic. The Ewe, a Gbe speaking group who originated from Nigeria,had a tradition of horizontal loom weaving, adopted the double heddle frame loom style of kente cloth weaving from the Asante with some important differences. Ewes weave cotton cloth instead of silk or rayon and introduce floating figurative weft patterns representing proverbs. Also, since the Ewe were not centralized, kente was not limited to use by royalty, though the cloth was still associated with prestige and special occasions. A greater variety in the patterns and functions exist in Ewe kente, and the symbolism of the patterns often has more to do with daily life than with social standing or wealth.
• Dagbon: The people are specialised in weaving the Chinchini. This African textile is used to weave the Ghanaian Smock. Queens, princesses and women of Dagbon wear the Chinchini. The weaving of the chinchini is done by the 'Kpaluu', one of the traditional professional in the Dagbon society that has existed until today. The smock made from the Chinchini of Dagbon is the most worn traditional cloth of Ghana.^{[citation needed]} During, the declaration of independence from colonial rule, Ghana's first prime minister and president together with other members of The Big Six (Ghana) were dressed in smocks as they declared the attainment of independence by the Ghanaian people. In November 2022, Ghana's Men National Football Team were dressed on beautiful patterns of smocks made from the chinchini as they arrived in Qatar. The socks, although originated from Northern Ghana, is worn by all across West Africa.
• Yoruba Aso Oke: Aso oke meaning top cloth, is the most prestigious hand-woven cloth of the Yoruba. It requires a level of expertise and time to weave the cloth. Traditional indigo-colored Aso oke often required the hand-spun thread to be dyed up to fourteen times to achieve the deep blues needed. Special techniques were used to make the threads colorfast so that they would not damage the lighter colored threads or embroidery when washed. The raw silk Aso oke called sanyan requires thousands of moth cocoons to be collected and their silk carefully unraveled and spun into thread. These types of labor-intensive activities were prerequisites to weaving and hand embroidering. Technically, Aso oke is what is known as a double-heddle narrow loom weave. The cloth is made by weaving one forty foot or more four-inch band of cloth. This long piece is then taken to a tailor who cuts it into pieces, sews it together, and sometimes hand-embroiders it. Traditionally, Aso oke was woven from cotton and imported or domestic silk. Aso oke outfits are worn during major ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, naming ceremonies, and important religious festivals.
• Faso Dan Fani: produced in Burkina Faso by the Marka people, the name is Dyula for "woven cloth of the motherland."^[11][12] Woven from cotton, kapok and tuntun wild silk. The thread is handspun, dyed, and woven on double-heddle looms into striped cloth: women spin and dye, while men weave and sew.^[13][14] The stripes of each cloth are woven to correspond to a proverb. Thus, wearing the cloth conveys a message.^[13] Thomas Sankara (president from 1983 until his assassination in 1987) promoted dan fani as a symbol of local arts and national pride, and encouraged its wearing as an alternative to the Western suit.^[11] It also diverted cotton production from a raw material for export to being used for domestic consumption.^[15][16] Sankara said, "We should not be slave of what others produce […] wearing the Faso Dan Fani is an economic act, cultural, and political to challenge imperialism."^[17] With Sankara returning to popularity in the 2010s, Faso Dan Fani has also become more popular in Burkina Faso and in West Africa in general.^[18][19]

East Africa

Ethiopian Cotton: With the exception of Ethiopia, textile weaving is less common in East Africa. In the 1st century, cotton was imported into Ethiopia by Arabs. Ethiopia has conditions that are good for growing cotton thus cotton was then locally grown and woven into cotton fabric on horizontal pit-looms^[20] mainly used by those with high social status.

Central Africa

• Kuba Raphia: The Kuba of Central Africa have one of the widest range of textile skills in Africa including weaving cloth from leaves of raphia palm as well as embroidery, applique, cut-pile and resist dyeing techniques. The Kuba kingdom's need for traditional textiles for ceremonies has sustained their traditional cloth and weaving techniques since the height of the kingdom between the 17th and 19th century until today. Unlike in other regions in Africa where over time locally grown and homespun materials were replaced by mill spun and synthetic fabrics, the Kuba raffia looms could not be adapted for weaving cotton or other fibers; thus helping to retain traditional skills. Raphia is one of the most important indigenous fibres used in Central Africa including Cameroon, Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It grows in abundance and sustainably in the swampy lands. To make cloth raffia fabric, fibres from raphia palm trees are harvested, the upper skin is stripped and left to dry in the sun. The fibre is then woven into skirts and wraps. Raphia weaving is also concentrated in the eastern part of Madagascar where contemporary haklkat raphia wraps are tie-dyed with multiple colors.
• Bark cloth: Bark cloth has ceremonial and ritual importance for the Baganda in Uganda as well as in Cameroon and the Congo. It is one of the first fabrics made in tropical areas of Sub-saharan Africa, specifically Central Africa. Bark from the tropical fig tree is stripped from the tree once a year and then sustainably regrows. The bark is moistened and then beaten rhythmically over a log until it expands by as much as four times^[21] into cloth. The cloth is then decorated with embroidery or dyed to create embroidered gowns, crocheted feathered hats, or the popular Bamileke stitched resist bark cloth.

Southern Africa

• Madagascan Silk: The island of Madagascar lies off the southeast coast of Africa, separated from the mainland by the Mozambique Channel. Malaysian Polynesians colonized the island in the first millennium and brought weaving techniques and burial customs to the island and the rest of Africa through trade. Cotton is grown all over the island but the most prestigious material is silk. There are 13 known varieties of locally grown silk. The silk is long and woven on a single heddle loom.

North Africa

• In Egypt, woven tapestries called kilim have been used as rugs since at least the 5th century. The craft is still popular today throughout Africa and Asia and often used as prayer rugs.

West Africa

• Senegal: Stitch resist dyeing entails stitching the cloth to prevent the dye from reaching selected areas on the cloth. The stitching was historically done by hand but now also by sewing machines. The finest stitch resist indigo dyed materials are the Saint Louis textiles of Senegal.^[22] Manjak weavers produce the most widely used woven fabric in Senegal.
• Nigeria: Among the Hausa, indigo dyeing generated wealth in ancient Kano. Yoruba are masters of the indigo-dyeing process, using a stitch resist method to make Adire Alabere.
• Mali: Traditional mudcloth followed a specific method using weave, dye, and local mud. Desired patterns were a result of repetition of processes over time.
• Ghana: Adinkra symbols representing proverbs and aphorisms were stenciled on fabric using carved calabash stamps^[23] and a vegetable-based dye to make Adinkra cloths traditionally worn by royalty and spiritual leaders. Adinkra cloths originated from the Bono Akan tribe of Ghana.

Central Africa

• Cameroon: Indigo dyeing in Cameroon is also done in pits very similar to technique practiced in neighbouring Nigeria. To make resist-stitched, Bamileke indigo-dyed cloth, the geometric designs are stitched onto cotton cloth with a raffia thread. The stitched cloth is then dyed blue in dye-pits using indigo which traditionally was natural but has now been replaced with synthetic versions. The raphia stitches are then removed from the dyed cloth to reveal the pattern of white resist against a blue background. The patterns used range from geometric tribal motifs to figurative patterns of humans and animals. Clamp resist dyeing is used by the Kuba. Raphia panels are folded to form a cube and then clamped and dip dyed. The clamps are removed after dyeing to reveal the resist pattern in natural raphia against the usually black dyed background.

Southern Africa

• Zimbabwe: Batiks are created using maize flour paste. In eastern Zimbabwe, a long tradition of making sturdy naturally-coloured mats from bark fiber exists.