23 Feb 2014

Africa has experienced growth in the textile and clothing sector, says Mr Cosmos Mamhunze of the United States Agency International Development (USAID) Southern Africa Trade hub.

Mr Mamhunze said during the textile and clothing stakeholders’ consultative forum in Gaborone on Thursday, February 21 that Africa registered robust growth over the past 10 years. He said in 2012, the growth stood at 4.2 per cent, 4.5 in 2013 and 5.2 in 2014 saying there were new long term investments in Angola and Mozambique increasing costs in Asia.

Retailers were increasingly looking at regional sourcing and were expanding in to the African market. He stated that they have dropped from 70 per cent to 55 per cent in terms of importing from Asia. USAID Southern Africa Trade Hub seeks to increase international competitiveness, intra-regional trade and food security in southern Africa.

Mr Mamhunze noted that Mauritius, Swaziland and Lesotho have active efforts to exploit the Sub Saharan African market sector. Value added operations in the sector included dyeing and finishing opportunities, knitting, as well as printing and embroidery.

Visibility and partnership development were critical for the industry’s growth, noting that it was also important to know the agents that were supplying the retailers such as Mr Price. “It gives credibility when the government is somehow involved in the industry,” he said.

He reiterated that there was gradual recovery in the economy which was good news for garment exporters, adding that seamless AGOA renewal was expected after 2015. Botswana experienced 50 per cent drop while other countries’ performance such as Kenya were increasing, Botswana stood at 9.817 per cent in 2012 and 4.823 per cent. He said the challenges experienced in the sector were delivery times and volumes the United States market require and capacity of the African market as they do not tally.

Mr Mamhunze said lack of regional plan on fabrics as well as dyeing and finishing plans were also challenges in the industry, noting that there was need to attract Foreign Direct Investment. He urged local textile manufacturers to participate in the event dubbed Source Africa scheduled to be held in Cape Town in June this year. The objective was to promote African textile, garment and footwear products to international and African buyers.

It was also intended to expand intra-Africa trade and boost foreign investments in to manufacturing, merchandising and marketing operations in Africa. For his part Mr Pilot Masunga, a laboratory services testing manager at the Botswana Bureau of Standards, encouraged local manufacturers to adopt standards in their processes to compete globally. Mr Masunga said there were various tests in textile and testing fees were determined by the specific tests being requested. The fees range from P170 to P400per individual test per sample. ENDS