Ethiopian textile exports are growing: TIDI

13 Oct '14

2 min read

The earnings from exports of textiles and apparel by Ethiopia have been growing during the implementation of the Government’s Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), the Textiles Industry Development Institute (TIDI) of Ethiopia has said.

Presenting a report on performance of the Ethiopian textile and clothing industry in the Ethiopian fiscal year 2006 that ended in August 2014, TIDI director general Sileshi Lemma said, the earnings from exports are growing but at a slow pace.

Ethiopia earned US$ 62.2 million from textile and clothing exports in Ethiopian fiscal year 2003 (2010-11), which increased to $111 million last fiscal, Mr. Lemma said. However, last fiscal’s earnings of $111 million has been much lower than the $350 million target set for the year, he added.

For the ongoing fiscal year, TIDI has set a target of $435 million for textile and garment exports. To achieve the target, TIDI will work towards strengthening capacities of industries and addressing other challenges.

Shortage of raw material is one of the problems faced by the Ethiopian textile and clothing industry. At present, cotton is grown on over 125,000 hectares of land in the country.

To meet the growing demand for cotton, the Government is working towards increasing the land use for cotton cultivation and also on improving cotton production. The Government has also resorted to importing cotton as a short-term measure to address the challenge of scarcity of raw material, Minister of Industry Ahmed Abitew said recently.

Garment, yarn and fabric are the top textile products in terms of export revenue for Ethiopia, while Germany, Turkey and China are the main destinations. (RKS)

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