Govt Targets $250m Annual Revenue from Textile & Apparel Exports

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia plans to increase its textile export earnings from last year’s $181 million to $250 million in the current 2022/23 Fiscal year.

Industry Minister Melaku Alebel revealed the target on Thursday during a Conference on Triangular Cooperation for Promoting Sustainable Textile Investments and Operations in Ethiopia.

The conference was organized by the Ministry, the UN Industrial Development Organization and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector earned 500 million USD last Ethiopian fiscal year.

The textile sub-sector contributed 181.4 million US dollars, which is 46.5% of the manufacturing earnings.

“This fiscal year, we aim to grow this contribution of the manufacturing industry export earning to $538 million with the textile contributing $250 million,” Melaku told the participants.

The Minister also expressed the government’s commitment “to making the sector globally competitive” as part of its “path to industrialize Ethiopia.

It is “bringing the necessary structural transformation to the textile sector for a better partnership among Ethiopian textile industries, Chinese businesses, and international brands,” Melaku said.

Ethiopia’s textile and apparel industry has grown by 51% on average with over 65 international textile investment projects getting licensed in 2020 alone.

China’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Zhao Zhiyuan expressed his admiration for the growth that the textile industry witnessed in recent years.

The foundation for the development of Ethiopia’s textile sector has been further consolidated, “but we know the potential is still huge,” ambassador Zhiyuan noted.

With a population of over 100 million people, Ethiopia enjoys a prominent demographic advantage in a typical labor intensive industry, the ambassador added.

China is one of the biggest investors for the textile sector in Ethiopia, with a total of about $450 million.

EM/News Agencies