Overview

Across the world, textiles industries have repeatedly been engines for development, kickstarting periods of rapid job creation and economic growth. Wages in textiles sectors across the World are rising, which is predicted to shed millions of labour-intensive manufacturing jobs in the coming years.

This presents a huge - albeit shortterm - opportunity for countries with competitive labour costs and other conducive conditions to attract new investment, transfer in technology, and create hundreds and thousands of jobs. Importantly, there is increasing global focus on ethical and sustainable textiles and garments, meaning countries have an opportunity to become destinations for responsible investment that generates decent jobs.

This creates a compelling opportunity for Tanzania, where the cotton & textiles sector has further poverty-reducing potential, given that more than 500,000 smallholders - concentrated in some of the poorest and least fertile regions of Tanzania - grow cotton.

Quick Facts

• Seed cotton yield:  283,600 (five years average).
• 80% of produced cotton exported in raw form.
• Low-cost labour.

Available opportunities

• Value addition from field to factory
• Ginning, spinning and weaving
• Textile
• Garments