Working Paper
AfCFTA and rules of origin for the textile and apparel industry in Africa
Prachi Agarwal, Faizel Ismail, and Vuyiswa Mkhabela
2023
#Trade and FDI
#Manufacturing
#Sub-saharan Africa
#The Middle East and North Africa
This paper is intended to stimulate a balanced debate on the appropriate rules of origin for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in the textile and apparel sector. It argues for a ‘developmental regionalism’ approach to the AfCFTA rules of origin that supports a Made in Africa approach that will facilitate the diversification of Africa’s economies towards higher-value production and the creation of regional value chains in the textile and apparel industry. Trade and production data on the industry is used, and lessons drawn from successful cases in the region that developed regional value chains. The paper finds that AfCFTA rules of origin can be used to create a large internal market to attract domestic, regional and international investments to spur production and exports from Africa.
