A new textile factory named Fine Spinners, at Bugolobi, Kampala city of Uganda, is set to contract around 30,000 small holder farmers to supply cotton in order to promote the Ugandan Government’s policy of adding value to agricultural produce, Daily Monitor reported.
The factory set up at a cost of US$ 40 million is expected to directly employ more than 3,000 Ugandans in the processing plant. Raw cotton from eastern and western Uganda will be processed at the new factory into finished products before being exported.A new textile factory named Fine Spinners, at Bugolobi, Kampala city of Uganda, is set to contract around 30,000 small holder farmers to supply cotton#
Jaswinder Bedi, the director of Fine Spinners, said that the factory, once fully operational, would deal with cotton farmers from Kasese and Mbale. He said Fine Spinners is excited to be part of the journey to transform Uganda from a raw material supplier to a finished goods supplier and create numerous jobs in the process.
According to Mr Bedi, Fine Spinners will manufacture finished products, 90 per cent of which would be exported. The exports market will be achieved through a number of economic partnerships including East African Community (EAC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern African states (Comesa), among others, that Uganda has with other countries and economic blocs.
Mr Bedi said they chose to invest in Uganda because of the country’s textile policy which offers generous incentives to investment in the cotton textile value chain.
A number of government officials including Ms Susan Muhwezi, the senior presidential adviser on African Growth and Opportunity Act and Mr Keith Muhakanizi, the deputy secretary to the Treasury, supported establishment of the textile unit, Mr Bedi said.
Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni commissioned the plant, and said that Ugandans should take available opportunities to fight poverty as well as improve household incomes.
He said the supply of cotton is unlikely to be a problem since Ugandan Government has a plan to work with at least 5,000 farmers for production of cotton. (GK)
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India