Ethiopia aims to generate more than US $ 200 million from its apparel and textile sector for the current FY.
This was announced recently by Bogale Feleke, State Minister of Industry, while addressing a forum to gauge the country’s performance in apparel and textile sector, recently.
He further added that the nation’s garment and textile industry, in particular, will be prioritised with regard to earnings from foreign currency.
Notably, an agreement has been signed between Development Bank of Ethiopia and the National Bank to ensure the efficient release of foreign currency for transactions in the garment and textile industry this year.
In the last fiscal year, the nation had earned from its textile exports, US $ 110 million, which was 46 per cent less than what it had projected.
Bogale attributed the low textile export earnings to various factors including shortage of cotton, low export, unskilled workforce and also political instability.
It is imperative to note that the Government has also made a National Cotton Development Strategy to handle the short supply of cotton.
The objective behind the formation of this strategy is to boost the production of cotton in Ethiopia and make it the leading cotton producer of Africa.
The Government is hopeful of attaining its projected target of US $ 200 billion for the current FY.
