Are donated clothes harming Africa's economy?

[pampango]

Continent is a big cotton grower but struggles to develop cloth and garments industries

At present Africa exports 90 percent of its cotton in raw form. Right now the continent lacks economies of scale, skilled manpower, trade linkages and infrastructure to take the cotton and turn it into fabric or a finished garment. But a collective push to transform the dormant sector is emerging, with the understanding that Africa ’s failure to add value to what it produces will dramatically impinge its development in the coming decades. “The industrialization era is coming to Africa and if we want to survive it intact, we have to compete in the global market,” says Mwessigye.

Some $200 million have recently been invested in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana for textile mills and garment manufacturing. Kenya has attracted $20 million to open factories. Ethiopia’s textile exports have doubled from $7 million in 2005 to $14.6 million in 2008, according to the African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation (ACTIF).

Ethiopia has also benefited from banning second-hand clothing. The flood of used clothing from Europe and the United States is blamed for deterring local apparel production across much of the continent.

Even if infrastructure is improved, most African countries will continue to struggle with economies of scale. They also lack the large subsidies enjoyed by the world’s leading cotton producers, including the United States, China and India — meaning that to level the playing field African nations will need to start offering subsidies of their own or the big producers will need to end theirs.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/100830/africa-works-develop-cotton-industry?page=0,1