Africa's Fashion Industry Seeks to Unlock Value Chain

Africa's fashion industry has an opportunity to turn more of the continent's raw materials into locally made garments, creating jobs and expanding markets for its designers and manufacturers. The industry currently exports up to 98% of its raw cotton, capturing only 2% of its total value and incurring an annual trade deficit of $35 billion. Industry voices and the newly launched Africa Made It campaign highlighted what it would take to keep more manufacturing, jobs and income on the continent.

The Africa Made It campaign, launched at the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend in Lagos, Nigeria, focuses on the fibre-to-fashion value chain, securing competitive energy for industrial mills, protecting emerging manufacturers from unfair imports and encouraging consumers to buy locally manufactured apparel. The campaign identifies a $1.8 billion capital allocation towards critical structural enablers for garment transformation as a foundation for closing gaps in the value chain.

Chiemelie Ezeasor, an arts and fashion consultant, emphasizes the need for investment in factories and people to drive local manufacturing. He notes that updating industrial infrastructure is critical to modernizing output without discarding cultural roots. Ezeasor also highlights the importance of local sourcing, which offers a way to reduce the expense and complexity of moving materials over long distances.

Kibonen Nfi, a Cameroonian fashion designer, moved her manufacturing process to Asia after 20 years due to the ease of doing business and scalability. She spent over $1 million trying to set up manufacturing on the continent but found it challenging. Nfi's experience highlights the difficulties faced by African fashion designers in scaling production and accessing reliable manufacturing.

Fred Deegbe, strategic director at the Pan-African Fashion Alliance (PAFA), believes that expanding African fashion businesses starts with helping them produce and trade at scale. PAFA is collecting data to help address barriers to scaling production, while working with Afreximbank, governments and private sector institutions on challenges ranging from reliable energy to consistency in production.

The African fashion industry faces challenges in sourcing materials, scaling production and accessing reliable energy. However, industry leaders and initiatives like Africa Made It and PAFA are working to address these challenges and unlock the value chain. By investing in machinery, skills and stronger trading links, businesses can seize the opportunity to turn raw materials into locally made garments.

Building domestic capacity to spin, weave and sew locally produced cotton could sustain nearly two million permanent industrial jobs, according to research cited in the Africa Made It release. It projects approximately $33 billion in domestic household incomes each year and a recurring annual GDP contribution of $34 billion. These estimates highlight the potential gains from expanding local processing and the importance of investing in the fashion industry.

Key points

• The Africa Made It campaign aims to secure competitive energy for industrial mills, protect emerging manufacturers from unfair imports and encourage consumers to buy locally manufactured apparel.