African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation has sought government’s assistance in setting up a technology upgrade fund which will enable local cotton millers to transition to new technology. According to Federation's Executive Director, Jaswinder Bedi, such an initiative will help in reducing the high cost of cotton production and the value chain in the Kenyan cotton industry will be more visible as a source of cotton, textile and apparel products for the domestic, regional and international markets.
According to Bedi, revived cotton sector has the capacity to create 500,000 jobs by the end of 2015. Kenya has its own raw material resource coupled with the social and environmental issues around the textile and apparel supply chain. If these issues are tackled in time, Kenya can emerge as the next big investment and sourcing destination having direct access to cotton.
With many global apparel buyers diverting their attention to Africa because of the duty free privileges the United States offers through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Export Processing Zones Authority Managing Director Cyrille Nabutola has assured cotton farmers of the government’s assistance to improve the investment environment including lowering the cost of electricity and marketing Kenya as top sourcing destination for global companies.
