Africa's 'white gold' can spin economic revolution
01 Feb '06
3 min read
Processing Africa's cotton in Africa would do more than any amount of aid to begin to eradicate poverty in the continent, e World Economic Forum has been told.
Speaking in Davos, Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Worker's Federation (ITGLWF) said that Africa produces some of the best cotton in the world and in substantial quantities, but only 3 percent is processed into yarn and fabric locally.
97 percent is exported in raw form for processing elsewhere. African clothing factories then have to import fabric at inflated prices making much local production uncompetitive internationally.
Said Mr. Kearney, "The IMF and the World Bank in past years imposed policies on African countries which destroyed the local processing of Africa's 'white gold'. Textile mills everywhere were forced to close. Those that remained were choked by cheap imitation imports from China. Now, bereft of a textile industry the continent's garment industry is being snuffed out.”
"The survival of the garment industry today is dependent on vertical integration with local cotton being transformed locally into yarn and fabric. The facilities for this to happen are almost non-existent in Africa today. Investment in both woven and knit facilities are urgently needed to revive Africa's ailing garment industry.”
"Such investment will need to come from the private sector but will require government stimulus. Here the IMF and the World Bank need to assist in providing aid for trade to promote such investment.”
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