The programme to assist African cotton-producing countries to improveproductive

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According to UNIDO, the goal of the programme is to ensuresustained competitiveness of the Cotton-Textile-Garment sector inAfrican countries.

“The programme focuses on product innovation and investmentpromotion, to assist African cotton-producing countries to improveproductive capacity-building in cotton processing throughSouth-South cooperation with India and China,” the statementsaid.

The cotton and textile industry, it noted, is more advanced inChina and India than in Africa, and hence, African countries couldbenefit from the transfer of equipment, technology and nicheproduct ranges from China and India.

“Cotton plays a significant role in African countries. Thecotton-producing countries in Africa export most of their cottonfibre directly without adding value. Despite competitive labourcosts, African cotton and textile companies cannot meet thechallenges of international competition on a quota-free cottonmarket,” said UNIDO.

Meanwhile, cotton is a raw material for the textile industry. It isa seasonal crop which is harvested in September and the textilemills procure their stocks in Oct-Dec period to last the whole year.

Due to lower production for 2006 season, there is a scarcity andthe price has gone up by 25 per cent. The situation is worsened bythe capital flight of this vital raw material through exportmerchant .
In the past, when a similar situation arose, the governmentintervened to ensure availability of this basic raw material to thelocal industry.

It is a well established practice in most cotton-textile producingcountries to review the demand and supply of cotton annually togive priority to the local industry and allow only surplus to beexported.