▪︎ WTO DG, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
UNIDO, WTO, ITC, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), have begun mobilizing $12 billion to support the development of a sustainable cotton industry in the Cotton Four countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali – or “C4”) and Côte d’Ivoire.
The project, tagged ‘Partnership for Cotton (Partenariat pour le Coton)’, aims to mobilize $12 billion for the Cotton Four countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali – or “C4”) and Côte d’Ivoire to support the development of a truly sustainable cotton industry in the region.
It was launched in February 2024 as the result of an innovative partnership between the WTO and FIFA.
It brings together stakeholders including WTO, FIFA, UNIDO, ITC, Afreximbank, ILO, IAEA, the International Cotton Advisory Committee, the Better Cotton Initiative, the Cotton Made in Africa (“Partners”). Together as the Partnership, they support African cotton producing countries to integrate into regional and global markets, increase local processing for value addition, and thereby create more decent jobs to benefit local communities.
In a statement seen by Industrial Times, UNIDO said that the partners have during the WTO 9th Global Review of Aid for Trade, signed a Joint Declaration towards mobilizing the required investment financing.
UNIDO Director – General Gerd Müller, said : “Our shared goal is fair and sustainable local cotton processing to create decent jobs and economic growth in the region. We at UNIDO offer our expertise to bring more local value addition in the cotton sector and support the development of a truly inclusive and sustainable textile industry. What we need is to also work towards establishing a ‘blue button’ seal to promote sustainable and fairly produced textiles around the world. We must fundamentally rethink how our economies and our global supply chains work and create a fairer globalization that benefits all.”
WTO Director- General Okonjo-Iweala, added : “West Africa stands at the cusp of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the cotton and textile industry. I am happy with Gerd Müller of UNIDO and ITC and others as we are working to try and help them [Cotton Four] develop the cotton value chain in the countries.”
The Cotton-to-Clothing panel assembled representatives from the private sector, development finance institutions, and development partners and was moderated by WTO Deputy Director-General Paugam, with interventions from WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller, ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Chad’s Minister of Trade and Industry Guibolo Fanga Mathieu, CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) Hani Sonbol, and President of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Samaila Zubairu, as well as a presentation on the Baseline Study of Cotton-to Textile/Apparel Value Chain Development in the C4 and Côte d’Ivoire by Gherzi Textil Org Switzerland CEO Navdeep Sodhi.