According to
this site , there's a tradition of printed fabrics in Africa.
African print fabrics come from a batik tradition and were imported from Indonesia starting in the colonial period. On some piece there are still tags that reference "wax-resist" and/or "Java." Depending upon where you are on the continent this cloth can be referred to as lappa (Liberia, Sierra Leone), wrappa, pagne (Francophone West Africa), kanga (East Africa)
This site has several African prints that look somewhat similar to what's on this hilt.