US and African countries launch cotton trade partnership

The US-Africa Trade Desk (USATD), alongside the governments of Mauritius, Lesotho and Kenya, has launched the Trans-Atlantic Cotton Partnership (TACP) to strengthen cotton, textile and apparel trade between the US and Africa.

Announced during the UN General Assembly in New York, the partnership will connect US-grown cotton with African textile and apparel producers, with the aim of creating more integrated supply chains between the two regions.

The initiative uses traceable cotton shipped directly from the US to Africa, allowing finished products such as jeans and T-shirts to be linked back to the US farm where the cotton was grown and the African facility where they were manufactured.

Lesotho prime minister Sam Matekane said the partnership could create “a productive industrial relationship” between the two continents.

Mauritius minister of industry, SMEs and cooperatives Ameer Meea stated that US cotton could be transformed through African manufacturing before returning to the US as finished garments. “That creates value on both sides of the Atlantic, and it is exactly the kind of partnership Mauritius wants to build with the United States,” he added.

Kenya’s cabinet secretary for investments, trade and industry Lee Kinyanjui said developing integrated cotton, textile and apparel value chains was “essential for Africa's industrialisation and export growth”. He added that the initiative could help position Kenya as a “sustainable textile and apparel manufacturing hub”.

USATD noted that the partnership will also support compliance, logistics and financing systems to facilitate cross-border trade, connecting US suppliers with African buyers and vice versa.