US$150m needed for textiles industry facelift

SITHENI NLEYA

The textiles industry needs a US$150m boost to revamp the factories for Zimbabwe to meet international production standards, a senior official has said.

Chairman of the Association of Cotton Value Adders of Zimbabwe, Shadreck Muhoni  said  Zimbabwe needs to go back to producing cotton as was 20-25 years ago where the country produced 350k tons a year.

Currently, the country is producing only 90 000 tons.

Muhoni said an injection of about US$150m into the textile production industry will see a rise in exported material.

He also highlighted that it is possible for the industry to become a billion-dollar industry if a five-year strategy is implemented.

“lncreased cotton production means we get to export more cotton. Moving from 28 thousand tons we will go back to a situation where we export 118 thousand tons valued at US$256m,” Muhoni said.

“With the correct value addition, from fibre to clothing, by exporting lint we will be jumping from US$60m going up to US$300m. We need to go back to the basics,” he said.