The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has signed a joint declaration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to promote sustainable industrialization and has pledged to support the ‘Partenariat pour le coton’ initiative, which seeks to strengthen Africa’s position in global textile and apparel value chains.
The AFC signed the affirmations, consistent with its commitment to advancing Africa’s sustainable development, during the ongoing Aid-for-Trade Global Review at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The goal of the AFC’s partnership with UNIDO is to promote sustainable industrialization in developing nations. The two organizations work together to mobilize the knowledge, skills, and financial resources needed to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while also supporting energy access and transition, industrial decarbonization, and the growth of agro-industries.
AFC has committed to engage with UNIDO, the WTO, the International Trade Centre (ITC), the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) to assist the ‘Partenariat pour le coton’. This program seeks to strategically position African nations, particularly Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Côte d’Ivoire, into global textile and apparel value chains. The cooperation will concentrate on the development of regional hubs for sustainable textiles in order to increase trade competitiveness and economic development in Africa’s cotton sectors. The project, which is supported by a joint declaration aligned with the UN SDGs, aims to reform the cotton sector by implementing sustainable practices, creating jobs, empowering women and youth, and improving technology and infrastructure.
‘Partenariat pour le coton’ expands AFC’s already major role in modernizing Africa’s textile industry by investing in ARISE IIP’s Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) in the Benin Republic. The GDIZ has a textile manufacturing plant that transforms locally sourced raw cotton into completed t-shirts for sale in domestic and international markets. GDIZ’s ‘Made in Benin’ t-shirts are currently available at the Children’s Place Store in the United States, and it recently shipped 80,000 children’s leggings to the French brand Kiabi. This milestone demonstrates Africa’s textile industry’s great potential and represents a big step forward in Benin Republic’s integration into the global textile and garment market.
AFC’s President and CEO, Samaila Zubairu, said: “These joint declarations are a reaffirmation of AFC’s commitment to driving sustainable development in Africa. By partnering with esteemed global organizations such as UNIDO and supporting transformational initiatives like the ‘Partenariat pour le coton,’ we are setting the stage for rapid economic and industrial advancements that will create quality jobs and wealth.”
AFC’s recently published “State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2024” identified significant infrastructure gaps and, correspondingly, immense investment opportunities in key sectors including power, transport, and digital communications.
