Are donated clothes harming Africa's economy?

Africa produces high quality cotton but the continent struggles to develop textile weaving and garment making factories. Here an African worker checks the quality of cotton. (Georges Gobet/AFP/Getty Images)

KAMPALA , Uganda – Ihwezo Mwessigye tosses a collared jersey onto his desk.

“Until recently, not even my mother believed we could make a shirt like this — I had to show her,” says Mwessigye, the production manger of Phenix Logistics Uganda, an apparel manufacturer on the outskirts of Uganda's dusty capital.

If African political and industry leaders have their way, Africans will no longer need convincing. The continent will be a globally competitive, value-added cotton and apparel hub.

That is no small order.

At present Africa exports 90 percent of its cotton in raw form. Right now the continent lacks economies of scale, skilled manpower, trade linkages and infrastructure to take the cotton and turn it into fabric or a finished garment.

But a collective push to transform the dormant sector is emerging, with the understanding that Africa ’s failure to add value to what it produces will dramatically impinge its development in the coming decades.

“The industrialization era is coming to Africa and if we want to survive it intact, we have to compete in the global market,” says Mwessigye.

Encouraging signs are emerging.

Some $200 million have recently been invested in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana for textile mills and garment manufacturing. Kenya has attracted $20 million to open factories. Ethiopia’s textile exports have doubled from $7 million in 2005 to $14.6 million in 2008, according to the African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation (ACTIF).

Ethiopia has also benefited from banning second-hand clothing. The flood of used clothing from Europe and the United States is blamed for deterring local apparel production across much of the continent.

In December, Uganda set up a low-interest $5 million per annum devolving fund to support upgrading and new entrants. Two universities have introduced masters programs in textile training. To nurture skills development, Uganda plans next year to require that all school and military uniforms be produced in the country.

“We are building the building blocks,” says Richard Mubiru, corporate affairs director of the Picfare Group of Companies in Kampala , which has a stake in the cotton sector.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/100830/africa-works-develop-cotton-industry