Cotton sector

CASE STUDY

Developing a robust strategy to catalyse the cotton, textile and apparel sector in E. Africa

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Southern and Eastern Africa is the largest organic cotton production region in Africa, with the highest levels of production coming from Uganda and Tanzania. The garment industry, for example, is a priority sub-sector as part of the Government of Tanzania’s strategy to achieve status of a middle income country by 2025.

Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, companies such as H&M, Tesco and Walmart all source apparel locally. However, while growing at a promising rate, the cotton, textile and apparel (CTA) sector in the region continues to suffer from low private sector engagement and a slow pace of reforms negatively impacting investor confidence.

Botho was approached by a non-profit international multi-stakeholder industrial development initiative to examine the CTA sector and to deliver a strategy for the sector’s structural transformation through a focus on enhanced growth and competitiveness in East Africa. Botho benchmarked the CTA industry against a number of criteria: job creation, market potential, dynamism and innovativeness, independence from government and political interests, potential for technology transfer, feasibility, value for money, and regional sequencing.

Following rigorous analysis, Botho advised the client on which private sector entry points they should prioritize based on their transformative potential. Botho recommended that the industry initiative consider Textiles and Apparel as two interrelated but distinct industries deserving of unique strategies. Following the conclusion of the report, the industry initiative re-focused its efforts to better support domestic and international manufacturing companies in establishing production in Export Promotion Zones, and building local apparel manufacturing capacity.