The African textile industry and my country are highly complementary. In recent years, China-Africa textile trade has continued to grow. Data from the China National Textile and Apparel Council show that from 2010 to 2017, the average annual growth rate of my country’s textile and apparel exports to Africa was 7.46%. Africa’s share of my country’s total global exports of textiles and apparel increased from 5.2% to 6.7%.
Xu Yingxin, vice president of the China Textile and Apparel Industry Federation, said at the African Textile Industry Dialogue held in Shanghai not long ago that accelerating the docking cooperation between China’s textile industry and Africa is not only one-way overseas investment, but also through cross-border investment. The integration of resources across fields and cross-links guides China’s textile industry’s investment in Africa to extend to the upstream weaving and spinning fields, while also having the supporting capabilities to invest in and build shared industries such as logistics and packaging.
According to Xu Yingxin, Africa has rich cotton resources and strong emerging market demand, and is more suitable for the development of a textile industry that absorbs more jobs. However, at present, Africa has not yet formed a complete textile industry chain. Although it has raw materials, its product manufacturing cycle is long and its production capacity is weak due to reasons such as weak fabric accessories processing capabilities and weak industrial supporting facilities.
Taking Kenya as an example, data shows that because there is no complete industrial chain and raw materials need to be imported, Kenya has a long delivery cycle. The average delivery time in the global market is about 45 days, but Kenya currently takes about 135 days, seriously weakening the competitiveness of its textile and apparel industry. Many African countries like Kenya hope that Chinese companies can invest locally to help them extend the chain of the textile and clothing industry.
Since the “One Belt, One Road” initiative was proposed five years ago, China’s textile industry has been at the forefront of many industries across the country in terms of “going out”. Investments in the textile industry along the “Belt and Road” account for 7% of the total foreign investment. Investing countries in Africa include Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, etc.
The China National Textile and Apparel Council attaches great importance to investment promotion in Africa. From September 10th to 13th, a Chinese textile delegation led by Sun Ruizhe, President of the China National Textile and Apparel Federation, arrived in Ethiopia for an inspection visit to the Ethiopian textile industry.
During the visit to Ethiopia, the Chinese textile delegation held a discussion with the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia. When introducing to the embassy, Sun Ruizhe said that the textile industry has done a relatively sufficient job in “going out”, especially with the advancement of the “Belt and Road” initiative, Chinese textile companies have invested in South Asia, West Asia and Africa, and many companies have actively “Going out” and deploying production capacity to Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and other countries.
The Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia introduced to the delegation that Ethiopia’s investment policies in recent years tend to attract labor-intensive and export-oriented enterprises to invest locally. For Ethiopia, most of China’s textile companies with Europe and the United States as its main markets are the “sweet potato” for attracting investment. At the same time, the embassy also suggested that when Chinese companies invest in Ethiopia, they should try to invest along the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway. This will not only reduce the company’s logistics and other costs, but also the area along the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway is currently an area with more room for development in Africa.
Relevant data from the Ethiopian Investment Commission show that in the past 20 years, Chinese companies have invested US$4 billion in Ethiopia, creating stable or temporary jobs for 111,000 people. With the further advancement of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, more and more Chinese textile and garment companies are turning their attention to Ethiopia, and investment in Ethiopia is also increasing year by year.
According to Xu Yingxin, textile companies investing in Africa also face challenges such as a weak local industrial base, a lack of skilled labor, and an inability to meet the need for rapid order response. To this end, the China National Textile and Apparel Council will promote more industries and enterprises to exchange experiences, explore the establishment of information platforms, strengthen analysis and judgment, and encourage enterprises to explore the construction of transnational cotton and other raw material bases, strengthen local sales brand building and channel development capabilities in target markets, Promote Chinese textile companies’ investment in Africa to extend to more links in the industrial chain. (Title: Textile industry investment in Africa covers multiple links in the industrial chain)
