Can cotton power Africa’s industrialisation?

 

Written by Lennox Yieke

For Africa to capture more value from cotton, it must secure access to markets big enough to support the growth of its manufacturers.

The story of how factories first emerged and spread across the world is incomplete without mentioning the cotton, textile, and apparel sector. The sector powered the first industrial revolution in Britain and the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries. It later helped drive the structural transformation of Asian economies like China, Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1970s and 80s.Africa has long sought to replicate this time-tested strategy of using textile and apparel manufacturing as a springboard for broader industrialisation. Yet despite being a major cotton producer, limited progress has been made in this effort.The continent’s 37 cotton‑growing countries collectively produce between 6.3 million and 8.5 million bales of cotton a year, or around 7-10% of global output. However, much of this is shipped overseas unprocessed, with UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimating that 70% of Africa’s cotton is exported as raw fibre. Only 12% is converted into yarn and 18% into fabric.This minimal level of local processing means Africa captures only a sliver of the value of its cotton, limiting the creation of skilled manufacturing jobs in economies where millions of young people are joining the labour force each year. Limited domestic production of processed fabrics and finished garments also deepens Africa’s reliance on imported textiles. Indeed, the continent currently spends around $50bn annually on textile imports compared to the roughly $15bn it earns from exporting raw cotton – mostly to Asian manufacturing hubs.

Building a regional textile corridor

Africa’s cotton production remains concentrated in its central and western regions, led by Mali, which produced roughly 1.3 million bales in 2025, and Benin, close behind at 1.2 million. Other major producers include Côte d’Ivoire (745,000 bales), Cameroon (650,000), Burkina Faso (610,000), Sudan (550,000), Tanzania (400,000), Nigeria (350,000), Chad (320,000), and Egypt (250,000 to 320,000).

In  2024, Mali, Benin, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Chad and Côte d’Ivoire joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in launching the Partenariat pour le Coton (Partnership for Cotton) – a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at expanding local processing in these countries.

Officials describe the initiative as a plan to build a regional “textile corridor” that will allow cotton grown in one country to be processed in another. The approach is intended to strengthen regional value chains and promote vertical integration, creating the economies of scale needed to make African manufacturers competitive against more established global rivals.

Currently, only 2% of cotton produced in the participating countries is processed locally. The programme targets an increase to 25% by 2035, backed by $5 bn in new investments to expand spinning, weaving, and garment manufacturing capacity in participating countries. Overall, it is expected to create about 500,000 jobs and generate $6bn in value‑added textile products.

After a “two‑year diagnostic phase”, a new implementation stage was launched in March on the margins of the WTO ministerial conference in Yaoundé. The phase brings together several international partners, including Afreximbank, which will help mobilise the financing for the initiative.

George Elombi, the president and chairman of Afreximbank, says the Bank has a vision to transform cotton into an engine of industrialisation.

“I call it, and we must accept it as, an anomaly. We grow cotton and export it in its raw state, then we buy it back in the form of a shirt for ten, maybe fifty times the price, with the name of a non-African brand, obviously,” he said.

“Within 15 to 20 years, Africa will be out of the cotton export business, and fully into exports of textiles and clothing, ensuring more money stays to improve lives and livelihoods across the continent,” he added, promising to ramp up the bank’s investments in the sector.

In Benin, Afreximbank helped finance and develop the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone in partnership with Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms, in which it owns a stake. Building on this, Afreximbank is supporting the development of special economic zones dedicated to cotton processing in Cameroon, Chad and Mali, while advancing similar discussions in other countries including Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria.

Access to markets remains crucial

For Africa to capture more value from its cotton, expanding production capacity alone will not suffice. The continent must also secure reliable access to markets that are big enough to support the profitable growth of its manufacturers. This has become a lot more complex in an era where major world powers like the US are increasingly using trade as a tool to advance geopolitical objectives.

For years, the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants duty‑free access to the US  for qualifying goods and countries, served as a lifeline for Africa’s apparel industry. The programme has, however, been dogged by uncertainty ever since President Donald Trump re-took office. AGOA lapsed in September 2025 before receiving a brief extension to the end of 2026. A further two‑year renewal to December 2028 is now moving through the US Congress after senators voted in support of the move.While the extension is welcome, the short timeframe and lingering uncertainty over AGOA’s future have left firms and investors alike wary. Many firms that depend on the trade pact are holding back on long‑term commitments until Washington provides clearer signals.Despite the push for its renewal by firms and countries that have benefited, AGOA is not without its critics. The third-country fabric provision in particularhas come under fire.It has enabled significant growth in African apparel exports and employment by allowing manufacturers in eligible countries to use imported yarn and fabric while still qualifying for duty-free access to the US market. With the option to source these inputs cheaply from Asian factories, this provision has reduced incentives to invest in local spinning and weaving capacity, limiting the development of upstream textile industries and weakening linkages between garment production and actual African cotton farmers.

Ultimately, Africa’s best chance to secure lasting market access for its apparel lies in developing its own consumer base. Intra‑African trade still accounts for only about 10% of the continent’s apparel exports and 17% of its imports, underscoring the scale of both the challenge and the opportunity for home‑grown fashion brands willing to compete for market share.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers a framework for local brands to compete more effectively against cheaper imports. But officials and entrepreneurs agree that creating sustainable demand will require more than a trade agreement that protects African brands. African designers must win over domestic consumers and persuade them to buy African as a matter of pride and identity.

This remains an uphill battle in most parts of Africa, says Wandia Gichuru, CEO of Vivo Fashion Group. Speaking at the Africa Soft Power Summit in Nairobi in May, she argued that Africans themselves have a crucial role to play in elevating local fashion brands by choosing them over global substitutes.

“In this part of the world we have not seen fashion for the business opportunity it provides,” she said.  “Our vision at Vivo is that of an Africa that is dressing herself. That may not be as big a challenge in West Africa. But in East Africa we tend to dress very European and wear predominantly second-hand clothing,” she added.

Even as African fashion brands look to win minds and hearts on the continent, Gichuru stressed that African designers must prioritise quality and value to build a sustainable competitive edge.

“We should not be buying African brands simply because they are African. We should be able to compete. There should be enough of us at all price points and in all market segments.”