Ethiopia very recently showcased its prowess in textile and garment industry at the African Sourcing and Fashion Week, which gathered some 230 international producers and exporters from 25 countries, among which India also played a key role, the organisers Trade and Fairs East Africa and Messe Frankfurt said.
Among the variety of products showcased at the trade show include apparel fabrics, leather goods, fashion and fashionable accessories. Home and household textile providers are also among exhibitors as part of the event.
According to the organisers, the exhibitors are drawn from countries such as Turkey, the United Arabic Emirates, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Italy, Germany and the host nation Ethiopia.
The four-day event, as part of its opening day programme, evaluated Ethiopia’s Hawassa industrial park, in which panelists indicated the industrial zone as a “model of sustainability†in Africa’s textile and garment industry sector. Digital sourcing was also major discussion topic during the event as a new sourcing opportunity for the African continent and beyond.
According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Industry, Ethiopia has earned close to $90 million from the textile and garment sector during the just concluded Ethiopian 2016-17 fiscal year, largely from industries installed in newly built industrial parks across the country such as the Chinese-built Hawassa industrial park.
The textile and garment industry sector, which represents the lion’s share of Ethiopia’s growing manufacturing sector, has been given due emphasis in Ethiopia’s second five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-II), due effective from 2015 to 2020.
textile and garment industry, African Sourcing and Fashion Week, East Africa and Messe Frankfurt, fabrics, leather goods, fashion and fashionable accessories, Ethiopian Ministry of Industry