AFRICA CTA CENTRE OBJECTIVES
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
AFRICA CTA CENTRE KEY INITIATIVES
Welcome to the International Trade & Research Centre (ITRC)
Africa Cotton, Textiles, and Apparel Centre (Africa CTA Centre)
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to drive policy reforms that increase trade, investment, market access and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)Agreement. We are committed to promoting Africa’s industrialization and developmental regional integration and global value chains through evidence-based research to address issues such as conventional cotton cultivation challenges, market volatility, environmental degradation, poor working conditions, and training in best agricultural and industrial practices.
OUR VISION
The Africa CTA Centre envisions a future where the CTA sector in Africa is fully integrated into regional and global value chains, contributing to sustainable development and economic growth. By promoting sustainable practices, decent work, innovation, industrialization and economic prosperity in Africa.
AFRICA CTA CENTRE OBJECTIVES
- Policy Support and Advocacy: The Africa CTA Centre works to support policy reforms that enhance intra-African trade, investment, market access, and industrialization. The Centre aims to promote developmental regional integration and global value chains by deploying evidence-based research to contribute to intellectual discourse. This includes addressing challenges related to conventional cotton cultivation, market volatility, environmental degradation, and poor working conditions.
- Sustainability and Innovation: Despite recent advances in sustainable production and consumption in the CTA sector, persistent social and environmental challenges remain. The Centre focus is to promote decent work, gender inclusion, compliance with sustainability standards, and innovation. By connecting with supply chain actors and engaging in multi-stakeholder dialogue, the Centre aims to attract the right investments that support the sector and address the social and environmental challenges that have plagued the sector across Africa.
- Capacity Building and Digitalization: The Centre offers capacity-building assistance to stakeholders, enabling them to benefit from a digitalised CTA sector. We provide insights on policy formulation and implementation that create employment opportunities and increase intra-African exports of CTA products. Our work supports manufacturing competitiveness, improved labour productivity, renewable energy adoption, and a fair and transparent rules of origin system.
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Africa is a significant producer and exporter of raw cotton and participates in the final assembly of certain textiles. However, the continent has relatively few spinning mills and limited yarn and fabric production, leading to a lack of vertical value chain integration. Africa exports 90% of its raw cotton to Asia and is a net importer of cotton fabrics and yarn. This lack of refinement within the continent presents a significant opportunity for growth and development in the CTA sector.
AFRICA CTA CENTRE KEY INITIATIVES
Join us in our mission to make the CTA sector in Africa a catalyst for sustainable development and economic growth.