Africa’s Cotton Dream: How Zimbabwe Is Stitching Jobs Back into the Continent’s Fabric

Across Africa, the future of industrial development is increasingly tied to how well countries turn what they grow into what they make. From farms to factories, value-addition is becoming central to job creation, economic resilience, and regional trade. Nowhere is this more visible than in efforts to rebuild textile and garment industries across the continent. In Zimbabwe, this continental push is taking shape through the government’s Cotton to Clothing Strategy, which aims to reconnect agriculture with manufacturing and revive a sector that once employed tens of thousands.