150 Experts Attend ‘Cotton Made In Africa’ Conference

150 experts attend ‘Cotton made in Africa’ conference

October 01, 2014 (Germany)

Over 150 experts across the cotton textile value chain from around 20 countries attended this year’s Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) Stakeholder Conference held from September 24–26 in Cologne, Germany.

Making African cotton competitive and providing a sustainable basis for people and nature are the goals of Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) and COMPACI (Competitive African Cotton Initiative).

The conference discussions focused on issues such as tapping new markets for African cotton, thus securing income for cotton farmers as well as establishing a viable textile value chain in Africa.

Philipp Kreutz, member of the Management Board of Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG) pointed out the impressive developments made by CmiA and COMPACI in his welcome speech.

He said, “The DEG is proud to have been given the opportunity as a founding member of COMPACI to support this process from the beginning.”

Alamine Ousmane, the acting Minster of Finance in Cameroon, emphasized the importance of cotton production for the West African country and praised CmiA for their work.

Andreas Söffker, Managing Director of Gerhard Rösch GmbH, which uses CmiA accredited cotton, was invited as an additional guest speaker.

A fashion show by Mozambican upcycling label “Mima-te” from twin sisters Nelly and Nelsa Guambe who presented for the first time their exceptional modern vintage designs made from old clothes was well received.

Among the unique designs, were the first CmiA dresses made from old CmiA clothes.

For the first time, a few manufacturers like Ayka and Else from Ethiopia and Buetec from Cameroon took part in the conference. They stressed on the fact Africa is being preferred more and more by the textile industry as a production location.

“The opportunity to produce cotton to garment within a country, establishes a sustainable foundation for textile production, and to discover growing sales opportunities locally makes African countries attractive,” said Jas Bedi, MD of African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation (ACTIF).

The group of experts agreed that CmiA can lay the foundation for a sustainable textile industry in Africa and a further developed textile industry could be a great opportunity for millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa. (AR)