Africa Made It to boost local textile manufacturing

Africa Made It, a pan-African industrialisation movement, has launched its ‘Power, Protect and Purchase’ campaign to strengthen the continent’s fibre-to-fashion value chain and increase the economic contribution of local textile and garment manufacturing.

Unveiled at the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Weekend in Lagos, Nigeria, the initiative aims to shift Africa away from exporting largely unprocessed cotton towards domestic spinning, weaving, textile production and garment manufacturing. According to research by Africa Practice, the continent exports up to 98% of its raw cotton overseas, capturing only 2% of its total value, while recording an annual trade deficit of approximately $35 billion.

The campaign is built around three priorities: securing affordable and competitive energy for textile factories, introducing policies to protect emerging manufacturers from unfair foreign competition, and encouraging consumers to purchase locally made clothing. Africa Made It estimates that expanding domestic manufacturing capacity could generate nearly two million permanent industrial jobs, contribute $34 billion annually to GDP and add around $33 billion to household incomes.

The movement also highlights potential benefits for cotton farmers and rural communities through increased domestic demand for lint and industrial employment. Women could be significant beneficiaries, accounting for an estimated 70–90% of garment factory workers across the continent, according to the initiative.

Marie Wilke, editor-in-chief of Africa Made It magazine, said Africa’s influence in global fashion and creative industries has yet to translate into comparable economic returns because of limited domestic manufacturing infrastructure. She said linking cotton production directly with local processing could help retain intellectual property, commercial margins and industrial employment within the continent.