Mali’s economy could have raked in some $1.6 billion dollars in 2018. And that’s if authorities had industrial processing units to add value to cotton. The West African nation is Africa’s top cotton producer, but lack of investments in the sector means local farmers are short-changed.
Mali had a record 700,000 tonnes of cotton crop harvest during its latest season. Thus, the association of African cotton growers is making a passionate appeal to leaders to boost processing of the crop.
Reports say with internal consumption on the continent, it can continue to promote growth and facilitates Agenda 2063.
We do not need to export our raw cotton to Asia so that they can turn it into textiles and come back to Ethiopia before exporting it to the United States.
We speak to the Executive Secretary for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Vera Songwe on continental integration among other issues.
