A Chinese company Jiangsu Lianfa is building a textile factory in Kenya. It will be one of the largest in the African continent and is likely to create more than 30,000 jobs. It will be located on a 50,000 acre cotton farm. The investment involved in this project is about $500 million. The plant is expected to produce goods worth $1.5 billion per annum and is also anticipated to triple Kenya’s annual production of textile goods. The country recorded a 6.5 per cent growth in 2013 predominantly supported by manufacture of twine, cordage and rope as well as knitting wool.

Jiangsu plans to have a textile factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The factory will create over 20,000 jobs once it starts operation. The firm has also made similar pre-investment assessments in Uganda and Tanzania. Africa, especially North Africa, is starting to become a manufacturing hub. Some of the biggest clothing companies of the world are expanding their sourcing operations in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa was once seen by a number of investors as a pure commodity play, but its rapid development has allowed the continent to become the next frontier market, with a number of untapped sectors.