The World Trade Organization (WTO) and football’s apex FIFA have unveiled the ‘Partenariat pour le Coton’, a new brand aimed at strengthening the WTO-FIFA cotton partnership and supporting African countries’ participation in cotton value chains.
- The initiative was launched at a high-level event on 24 February marking the start of the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi by WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
BACKGROUND: FIFA and the WTO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in September 2022 to explore how best to use football to promote economic inclusion in developing countries, to analyse the economic impact of football and its role in unlocking global economic growth potential and to seek options for the development of capacity-building activities that support the use of football as a tool for women economic empowerment, all of this with a focus on the WTO’s cotton programme.
THE COTTON-4 INITIATVE: Okonjo-Iweala stressed that cotton "goes to the heart of how trade is fundamentally about people". Despite cotton's vital importance to the livelihoods of people in the Cotton-4 (C-4) countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali and other African cotton-producing countries, much remains to be done to unleash the sector's potential to drive growth, development and job creation. More value must be added to cotton produced in West Africa, she added.
- The DG pointed out the lack of cotton processing activity within the region, with data showing "exports of cotton thread and t-shirts worth barely over $100,000 compared to around $800 million for exports of cotton lint in an average year." The lack of these countries' participation in global textile value chains has resulted in fewer job opportunities for young people.
- The WTO has accelerated work on helping to remove these obstacles, notably through the landmark initiative with FIFA launched in 2022. This initiative is a pivotal step in enabling cotton producers and manufacturers to tap into new markets, including in the sports apparel and garment industry.
- The initiative has successfully garnered the support of new partners since its inception, including the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Trade Centre (ITC), the African Export-Import Bank, the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) and Better Cotton.
- Currently, partners are conducting an assessment in C-4 countries and Côte d'Ivoire (together known as Cotton 4-plus), with the aim of better understanding the development needs of the cotton sector.
THE LAUNCH: At the ceremony to launch ‘Partenariat pour le Coton’, Benin's Minister of Trade and Industry Shadiya Alimatou Assouman and Mali's Minister of Industry and Trade Moussa Alassane Diallo took the floor on behalf of the C-4 to express the group's support for the work of the WTO and FIFA, and for their full ownership of the initiative.
- Assouman provided an update on the country's efforts to develop a modern textile industry, including investing in infrastructure. She welcomed the prospect of more investment in the country, stating: ¨Benin now has the capacity to process more than 10% of its cotton production locally, and the long-term goal is to process all its cotton by July 2024.”
- Diallo highlighted the various measures taken by Mali to strengthen its cotton production and processing capabilities. He said: ¨I would like to appeal to all potential investors in textile and cotton to invest in Mali and ensure a very favourable investment environment in our country.”
