Africa adopts full supply chain transparency in cotton

ARISE IIP and FibreTrace® partner to create Africa’s first fully traceable cotton supply chain.

November 23rd, 2021

Written by FibreTrace®

A groundbreaking achievement.

ARISE IIP, pan-African developer and operator of world-class industrial parks has partnered with FibreTrace® to announce a new pilot program enabling spinner-to-garment traceability for ARISE IIP’s highly anticipated Republic of Benin spinning facilities at the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ).

The partnership between FibreTrace® and ARISE IIP will bring full traceability to the first of their kind, vertically integrated mills in the Republic of Benin to trace, verify and audit the lifecycle of their garments from spinning mills to stores, sharing the journey of Benin premium cotton with end consumers.

The partnership will position Benin at the forefront of textile innovation and technology, improving visibility, resilience, securing economic competitiveness, and creating a thriving value chain for African agriculture as the country is expected to have 98,000 tons lint cotton processing capacity per annum by the end of 2023.

Smallholder farmers are estimated to produce around 30% of total crop output globally, making them the foundation of global agriculture and the food sector.

"ARISE IIP will now be able to guarantee the sustainability of the premium cotton transformed on its industrial platforms across Africa thanks to the

technology deployed by FibreTrace®. Across all its industrial parks, ARISE IIP ambitions to lead the way towards the sustainable transformation of local resources, where every stage of production is transparent for the benefit of local farmers and the end consumer," said Gagan Gupta, Founder and CEO at ARISE IIP.

The program will make its debut in the Fall of 2022 when GDIZ spinning, fabric and garment production facilities are anticipated to start operations.

Given FibreTrace® success in other cotton growing regions, it is anticipated that this technology will be adopted at scale across all textile processing sites and facilities in Benin and across the African sub-continent. The technology will provide transparency and true custody of supply chain solutions for brands and suppliers across the globe working with African manufacturers and supporting the growth of best practices in agriculture on the continent.

“We’re truly excited about this partnership because it is the first step in making African grown cotton more visible to the global textile industry, and affords these farmers, who dedicate their land and livelihoods to growing this fibre, the opportunity to take a more prevalent role. We look forward to the day that the primary impact data from African farmers is combined with traceability to showcase Africa’s contribution to a better future for the textile industry,” said Shannon Mercer, CEO at FibreTrace®.

ABOUT ARISE IIP

ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) is a pan-African developer and operator of world-class industrial parks committed to making Africa thrive. It identifies opportunities in commercial and industrial value chains across Africa, and conceive, finance, build and operate the necessary infrastructure, playing a catalytic role in supporting countries to transition to an industrial economy.

ARISE IIP are driven by the pursuit of green growth; its ambition is to unlock the continent’s industrial potential while neutralising our carbon emissions and climate impact. ARISE IIP is currently present in Benin (GDIZ), Togo (PIA) and Gabon (GSEZ). GSEZ was ranked the world’s best special economic zone in the timber sector (2020 FDI ranking).

www.ariseiip.com