Afreximbank Introduces Cotton Initiative

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is developing an African Cotton Initiative (AFRICOTIN) to help to catalyse the cotton sector in the continent.

The Managing Director of the Bank’s Intra-African Trade Initiative, Kanayo Awani, announced this recently. Speaking during the launch of the African Corner at the World Cotton Day organised by the World Trade Organisation in Geneva, Awani said the initiative would involve upstream interventions boosting production of cotton on the continent and downstream interventions promoting and financing the consumption of cotton products.

She noted that the cotton value chain provides income for millions of people in Africa, especially those living in rural areas, and represented an important source of foreign exchange for many countries.

Afreximbank had a cotton pipeline of about 400 million Euros, she announced, including $195 million dollars in textile and cotton Parks in Burkina Faso and textile and garments industrial parks in Nigeria.

The African Corner, sponsored by Afreximbank, allowed the Bank to showcase its support for the African cotton value chain and for the African fashion and design industry.

The African Corner is a section of the WTO premises dedicated to African Cotton products and was designed to give exposure and recognition to African cotton and cotton stakeholders. The corner is also being used to develop collaboration with the private sector and seek investors for cotton-related industries and production in Africa.