The Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export recently received a letter from the African enterprise Joban Group, stating that due to business transformation, the company plans to sell one textile factory each of the group’s subsidiaries, Uganda NYTIL Textile Company and Rwanda Utexrwa Textile Company, respectively located in Jinja in Uganda and Kampala in Rwanda. The factory located in Uganda covers an area of 135 acres, with a factory area of 60,000 square meters. It has modern spinning, weaving, printing and dyeing and garment-making equipment in good condition and more than 1,500 skilled workers. It has long supplied various products to many countries in central and eastern Africa. It produces uniforms, mosquito nets, bed sheets and fabrics, and exports environmentally friendly shopping bags and T-shirts to Europe and the United States. After verification with the China Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office in Uganda, the company and related factories really exist, and there is a clear intention to resell them.
I would argue that Africa has a large population and rapid economic growth in recent years, so it has broad market prospects and abundant cheap labor. Uganda and Rwanda are strategically located in central and eastern Africa. In order to attract foreign investment, African countries have also introduced many preferential policies including taxation. Benefiting from being signatories to many African multilateral trade agreements and many special economic and trade agreements between Africa and the EU and the United States, Uganda and Rwanda’s manufactured products can be easily exported to many African countries and enjoy tax-free policies when exporting to the EU and the United States. .
Africa is China in the future, with huge potential in terms of labor force and market size. Currently, the booming African continent urgently needs to introduce advanced manufacturing technology and accelerate the industrialization process. Looking at the world, China’s industrial technology and products are most suitable for the needs of the African market, so China’s industrial technology has huge potential to be transferred to the local area. By transferring part of the manufacturing industry to African countries, not only can it effectively promote the industrialization of local countries and improve the living standards of local people, but the two sides can also work together to jointly develop local, European and American markets, and push African manufacturing to a new level. As the leading industry in China’s manufacturing industry, the textile and apparel industry has unique advantages in the process of shifting my country’s manufacturing industry to Africa. The textile and apparel industry is a labor-intensive industry with low technical requirements. Africa’s large amount of cheap labor and abundant cotton and oil resources can effectively promote the development of the textile and apparel manufacturing industry in the local area. At present, some far-sighted textile and apparel companies in my country have set their sights on the African market, and some have already taken action.
On May 11, 2014, under the joint witness of Premier Li Keqiang, Kenyan President Kenyatta and other African leaders, the China-Kenya government cooperation agreement on the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway project was formally signed, involving an amount of US$3.804 billion. The signing of the Mombasa-Nairobi railway cooperation agreement is just the beginning. The master plan is to connect seven countries in East Africa. It will become a major project for the interconnection of the four East African regions. It is the first railway built in Kenya in the past century and is responsible for This railway will play an extremely important role in promoting the formation of a modern railway network in East Africa and the economic development of the East African region.
Through the above measures, the Chinese government has not only pointed out the direction for Chinese industries to deeply explore the African market, but also created practical material conditions for Chinese enterprises to conduct economic and trade activities in Africa safely and conveniently. China’s textile and apparel industry should firmly grasp this trend, conduct in-depth investigations and actively consider investing in businesses along the Middle East and Africa high-speed rail lines.
In summary, I would suggest that textile and apparel companies interested in investing in Africa should carefully seize this business opportunity and actively contact the Marketing Department of the Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export for further information.
Contact person of the Marketing Department of the Chamber of Commerce: Zhang Hantao
Landline: 010-67739225, Fax: 010-67739210
Email: [email protected]
