Marché Nouvelles

 By : Collins Olayinka, Abuja

• Targets $1.4b investment, 300,000 jobs by 2030 Nigerian manufacturers in the textile sector are worried that Benin Republic has emerged as the textile hub in West Africa.

The Republic of Benin has quietly emerged as a hub for sourcing textiles for international and regional markets in West Africa.

The Glo Djibe Industrial Zone (GDIZ), situated 45km from Cotonou, has aided Benin Republic’s emergence as the focal point for ultra-modern textile facilities where a 1640-industrial cluster has been set up by the UAE-based Arise IIP in a joint venture with the Republic of Benin.

The vertically integrated textile and garment factories in the zone produce ready-made garments and home textiles for the European and American markets, taking advantage of the geographical proximity and preferential market access.

The Guardian gathered that the GDIZ is expected to attract an investment of $1.4 billion and generate employment of300,000 jobs by 2030.

Benin Republic is the largest cotton producer in Africa and part of the ‘C4+’ cohort recognized by international development agencies such as the WTO, UNIDO and ITC.

The ‘C4+’countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Ivory Coast – account for 60 per cent of Africa’s cotton production of about two million tons, according to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).

‘Partenariat pour le Coton’ (Partnership for Cotton) initiative launched at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi in January 2024, heralded the transformation of the cotton-textile sector in West Africa.

Speaking on the development, the Managing Partner, Gherzi Sub Sahara, Navdeep Sodhi told The Guardian that the ongoing Sino-American trade war and imposition of additional tariffs by the Trump administration has proved to be a boom for the textile industry in West Africa.

He added that under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Sub-Saharan African countries avail duty-free access to the U.S. market adding that even with the imposition of the additional 10 per cent tariffs, Africa enjoys a big advantage over China and other Asian countries which were slapped with punitive tariffs, over and above the normal customs duty, ranging between 27 to 145 per cent.

His explanation: “Having said that, the expiry of AGOA in September is a threat as it would erode Sub-Saharan Africa’s tariff advantage. A ray of hope appeared last week when the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced a hearing on July 18th to review AGOA eligibility for 2026. The industry watchers hope this is a positive sign that the administration is working with Congress to support AGOA renewal. Nonetheless, the duty-free access available to many African countries to the European Union acts as a buffer as the exporters can diversify their exports of apparel to Europe.”

Sodhi noted that Benin catalysed the transformation of the textile industry in ECOWAS as Ghana and Togo have also attracted FDI large-scale apparel manufacturing for exports.

Sodhi, who is also an international textile expert, insisted that West and Central Africa have the potential to become a thriving hub for the production of textiles and clothing for regional and international markets by forging value chain linkages spanning Cote d’Ivoire to Cameroon.

He added that with a population of nearly 500 million, the sub-region offers a ‘twin boon’ such as a large consumer base as well as the availability of abundant human resources needed in manufacturing.

Echoing the sentiment, Executive Secretary of the Organized Private Sector Exporters’ Association (OPEXA), Olatunji Olarewaju, submitted that Nigeria needed to take a cue from its ECOWAS peers by attracting investment in world-class industrial zones to boost non-oil exports of agro-allied products to the international as well as the continental market leveraging the AfCFTA.

He maintained that with the revival of the moribund textile industry in mind, the recent announcement of the establishment of the Textile Board by the Federal government sends the right signal to the stakeholders that ‘No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come.’