Subsector studies explore potential pathways to increase export diversification and international competitiveness by introducing new exports. They also examine opportunities for increasing competitiveness in existing exports or import substitutes. To inform policy in African countries, each study analyzes global demand trends and success factors for increasing exports for a representative product from the subsector. Ongoing studies in this category include textiles and agro-processing.
Textiles
There are two textile studies. The first aims to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive view of the global textile and clothing sector, focusing on trends in key world markets and the different component of the value chain, how the industry has developed in leading developing country exporters of textiles, and how, in the African context, it can contribute to industrialization. The analysis focus on isolating the key drivers of success in the industry, mapping the progression of countries that have developed a robust and transformational textile and clothing sector and evaluating how those successes can inform the development of the textile industry in Africa.
The second study reviews the relatively successful case of Mauritius, which has used textiles and clothing to spur its industrialization and economic transformation. It then looks at the state of the sectors in five other African countries—Madagascar, Lesotho, Kenya, Ghana and Senegal—that have been trying to produce and export textiles and clothing, and have been facing important challenges. The paper ends with recommendations for these countries based on the lessons from the Mauritian experience as well as current and prospective developments on the global textiles and clothing markets, including the implications of the emergence of China as the predominant exporter.
Agro Processing Studies
These sub-sector studies focuses on mapping opportunities in selected agro-processing sub-sectors. The work was structured in three phases:
- Defining scope and identifying the set of agricultural commodities to be investigated as representatives of the following sub-sectors—(a) traditional agricultural exports; (b) non-traditional/emerging agricultural exports; and (c) food import-substitutes.
- Conducting detailed market and value chain studies for each of the commodities identified, to highlight the global market trends, the key policy constraints and the opportunities for African countries to claim a greater share of the value
- Analyzing the key success factors and policy implications for African countries in each opportunity and producing a final report
The first of these phases resulted in an initial list of 9 commodities to be analyzed. The selection included traditional exports where the main opportunity is in capturing greater value through processing (cocoa, coffee, and cotton), non-traditional/emerging exports which offer the potential to ramp up production as well as move up the value chain (fruit and fresh vegetables), and food import-substitutes that recognize the potential value of the emerging African urban middle-class market (palm, soybean, rice, and sugar). Subsequently, the second and third phases were initiated leading to five completed comprehensive integrated reports (cocoa, coffee, cotton, soybean, and fruit) and four advanced drafts (rice, palm oil, sugar, and dairy products). ACET is in the process of summarizing the findings and policy implications to incorporate them in the first African Transformation Report.
