Stakeholders Push For Local Processing, Smarter Trade Policy

Stakeholders have called for local processing, smarter trade policy as Africa loses $35 billion every year with an export up to 98 per cent of its raw cotton overseas, according to research by Africa Practice.

The research showed that the continent captures only two per cent of the total value of its cotton, while incurring a $35 billion annual trade deficit.

The findings were presented at the launch of the Africa Made It campaign, titled “Power, Protect and Purchase”, in Lagos.

Africa Made It said Africa could sustain two million permanent industrial jobs and add $33 billion to household incomes every year if it stopped exporting 98 per cent of its raw cotton and processed it locally.

The campaigners said building domestic capacity in spinning, weaving and sewing would keep the value of cotton on the continent.

The campaign aims to unlock $34 billion in annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution.

It plans to do this through a structural shift from unprocessed raw cotton exports to end-to-end local garment processing.

It also puts people, especially women and rural communities, at the heart of Africa’s industrial transformation.

Impact on rural households

Africa Made It said the shift would mean more than statistics for millions of rural households.

It explained that industrial wages and local lint purchases would increase the circulation of capital in rural communities. This, it said, would drive microeconomic vitality and contribute to rural poverty reduction.

The group added that formal employment opportunities in the sector could expand drastically under a locally driven fibre-to-fashion value chain.

The editor-in-chief of Africa Made It magazine, Marie Wilke, said Africa’s cultural influence had not translated into economic gains.

She said, “African culture, design, and storytelling influence global fashion, music, and media like never before. Yet, without domestic manufacturing infrastructure, Africa’s creative authority yields very little economic return.”

Wilke said linking cotton harvests directly to local processing would keep the benefits on the continent.

According to her, “Linking raw cotton harvest directly to local processing ensures that the intellectual property, commercial margins, and industrial jobs remain on the continent. It is time to wear our power.”

Africa Made It said realising the vision would require targeted investments, supportive trade policies and consumer mobilisation.

It said a $1.8 billion capital allocation towards critical structural enablers was needed to bridge Africa’s missing middle in the fibre-to-fashion value chain.

Africa Made It is coordinated by a network of partners. They include AllAfrica Media, Africa24, Africa No Filter, Africa Practice, Afreximbank, AKAS Consulting, Bird Story Agency, IC Publications and Research Alpha.
The group said the true heart of the transformation lay not just in GDP figures, but in changing millions of lives through decent work, higher incomes and stronger rural economies.