Browsing: Textile industry in Kenya

• Norfund has partnered with Ethos Mezzanine Partners 3 to invest in Balaji Group, a Kenyan textile manufacturer
• Norfund said it has partnered with Ethos Mezzanine Partners 3, a closed-ended specialist credit fund to invest US$25 million into Balaji, which is one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s leading textile companies
• The two partners said they have executed a USD 25 million mezzanine debt investment in the Balaji Group, with both contributing US$12.5 million each

The government of Norway, through the Norwegian development finance institution Norfund, has signed a new partner to invest in Balaji Group, a Kenyan-based textile manufacturer.

On February 24, 2023, Norfund said it has partnered with Ethos Mezzanine Partners 3, a closed-ended specialist credit fund to invest US$25 million into Balaji, which is one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s leading textile companies.

Job creation in Kenya

The investment is also expected to aid the creation of 6,000 new direct jobs and another …

Textiles and clothing are an essential part of everyday life and an important sector in the global economy, and more so Textile in Africa.

According to a report titled Circular economy in Africa: Fashion and textiles, in sub-Saharan Africa, the combined apparel and footwear market is estimated at $31 billion. The textile industry in Africa is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 5 percent between 2019 and 2024. In addition, the production of cotton accounts for almost 7 percent of all employment in some low-income countries.

African countries boasted thriving textile industries in the 1970s and early 1980s. That was until the African market was flooded by what Kenyans call Mitumba (second-hand clothes), also called chagua in Rwanda, and salaula in Zambia, dealing the textile industry a blow leading to its deterioration.…