Profile
The union that still runs the Raffia City
Ikot Ekpene has traded on woven palm fibre for a century, and the trade is still organised the way it was in the 1970s.
South-South
Ikot Ekpene
Akwa Ibom State
5.1794° N, 7.7133° E
The Raffia City — a town whose entire reputation rests on what it can weave.
About this place
Ikot Ekpene has called itself the Raffia City for a century, and the claim holds up: the town's workshops turn palm fibre into furniture, mats, bags and the ceremonial pieces used across Akwa Ibom and beyond. It was an administrative centre in the colonial period and remains the meeting point of the Annang, Ibibio and Igbo trading worlds.
Everything from Ikot Ekpene
1 story, newest first.
People in Ikot Ekpene
Profile
The union that still runs the Raffia City
Ikot Ekpene has traded on woven palm fibre for a century, and the trade is still organised the way it was in the 1970s.
Field notes from Ikot Ekpene
Eno Akpan
The market rows are ordered by seniority, not by product. The oldest weavers are nearest the road. An apprentice starting out is at the back, and moves forward over a working life, which means you can read somebody's standing off their position without asking.
Where to go next
Editorial adjacency rather than distance — somewhere it makes sense to go from here.
