Africa’s opportunity to turn cotton fibre into fashion

How can Africa compete in the global cotton-based market currently dominated by Asia, Europe and America? Can textiles made in Africa with distinctive continental flavouring find their own niche in the billion-dollar industry? Neil Ford has been finding out.

T he cotton sector is one of Africa’s most important links to the global economy. Production from Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali has long been shipped to spinning mills in Bangladesh, garment factories in Asia, and European and North American fashion houses. Yet the continent remains far more significant as a producer and exporter of raw fibre than as a manufacturer of the clothes that ultimately give cotton most of its value. This imbalance is finally now attracting much greater attention.

Africa has the land, labour, agricultural expertise and growing consumer markets needed to expand cotton production and develop a larger textile and apparel industry.