Can Zambia Bring It's Textile Industry Back To Life?

At its height, Zambia’s textile and clothing sector employed more than 25,000 people. By 2002, that number had fallen below 10,000.

Today, Government is betting that renewed investment in domestic manufacturing, including the revival of Zambia-China Mulungushi Textiles in Kabwe, can begin reversing decades of decline.

There are reasons for optimism. Zambia produces cotton, has a domestic market for clothing and textiles, and could potentially retain considerably more value by processing raw materials locally instead of exporting commodities and importing finished products.

But the history of Zambia’s textile industry also demonstrates why reopening a factory and rebuilding an industry are two very different things.

How the Industry Declined

Zambia once had a significant textile manufacturing industry, with major operations including Kafue Textiles and Mulungushi Textiles in Kabwe.

The economic reforms and trade liberalisation of the 1990s dramatically changed the environment in which those companies operated. Domestic manufacturers faced greater international competition while imported clothing became increasingly accessible to Zambian consumers.

Research examining the industry's decline found employment fell from more than 25,000 workers during the 1980s to fewer than 10,000 by 2002.

Second-hand clothing and inexpensive imported garments also became an important part of Zambia's clothing market, increasing the competitive pressure on domestic manufacturers already struggling with production costs and other structural challenges.

Mulungushi Textiles eventually ceased operations in 2007, leaving Kabwe without one of its important industrial employers.

Government Is Trying Again

The revival of Zambia-China Mulungushi Textiles now represents an important test of Government's broader ambition to rebuild domestic manufacturing.

The project has been linked to Zambia's industrialisation and value-addition policies, with the Government seeking to connect cotton farmers, processors and manufacturers more closely.

Around 200 cotton farmers in Central Province have reportedly been brought into financing arrangements linked to supplying the revived operation, while Government has committed significant resources towards bringing the factory back into production.

Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Chipoka Mulenga has argued that Zambia should manufacture more of the products it currently imports, including fabrics such as chitenge material.

The economic argument extends beyond the factory itself.

If Zambia can turn more locally grown cotton into yarn, fabric and finished garments domestically, the country could retain more value within its economy, support additional jobs and reduce expenditure on some textile imports.

For Kabwe, the revival could also carry particular significance after years of deindustrialisation.

But the Problems Are Bigger Than One Factory

The difficult question is whether the conditions that contributed to the industry's decline have sufficiently changed.

Zambian manufacturers still have to compete with inexpensive imported clothing. The domestic textile value chain also requires more than cotton farmers and a functioning factory. Competitive textile manufacturing depends on processing and spinning capacity, reliable electricity, affordable financing, modern machinery, efficient logistics and sufficiently large markets for finished products.

That makes the revival of Mulungushi important, but its scale also matters.

An industry that once employed more than 25,000 people cannot be reconstructed through a single factory or a few hundred participating farmers. Sustained recovery would require investment spreading across the wider cotton-to-clothing value chain.

There is also the question of consumers. Locally manufactured products ultimately have to compete on price, quality and availability with imported alternatives. Protecting an industry through policy may create space for manufacturers, but long-term survival depends on businesses becoming competitive enough to sustain themselves.

The Real Test for the Grow Zambia Agenda

The lesson from Zambia's textile history is that reopening a factory and rebuilding an industry are different achievements.

Mulungushi Textiles could create employment, generate additional demand for locally grown cotton and reduce dependence on some imported products. But one factory cannot by itself recreate an industry that once employed tens of thousands of Zambians.

The bigger test for the Grow Zambia Agenda will therefore be whether Zambia can rebuild the entire ecosystem around textile manufacturing: cotton production, processing, spinning, weaving, garment production, financing, reliable energy and access to competitive markets.

If those pieces begin moving together, the reopening of Mulungushi could represent something much larger than the return of a factory to Kabwe.

If they do not, Zambia risks rediscovering a lesson it has encountered before - starting a textile factory may be possible, but sustaining a competitive textile industry is considerably harder.