Star Garments gets $15m IFC loan for new Togo garment factory

AFRICAN BUSINESS AND ECONOMYJuly 15, 2024 at 3:07 PM UTC

TLDR

IFC loans $15m to Star Garments for expanding into Africa, supporting a greenfield factory in Togo.
Investment to create 4,520 jobs, especially for women, and enhance export-oriented value addition by 2030.
Star Garments, partnering with Charles Komar & Sons, makes debut African venture in Plateforme Industrielle d’Adétikopé.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is lending $15m to Sri Lankan apparel manufacturer Star Garments to support its expansion into Africa.

The $15m loan will be used to build a greenfield clothing factory in Togo that is expected to create 4,520 direct and indirect jobs, especially for women, and generate significant export-oriented value addition by 2030.

It marks the Charles Komar & Sons and its subsidiary Star Garments’ first venture into Africa. The cut-make-trim factory will cut, assemble, and finish a range of clothing items. It will be built in the Plateforme Industrielle d’Adétikopé, an industrial park on the outskirts of Lomé.

Key Takeaways

West Africa holds the potential to be a textile and apparel powerhouse given its substantial workforce, availability of cotton, and proximity to the largest apparel demand centers in the United States and Europe. This project is a result of IFC’s Cotton-to-textiles Value Chain Study in West Africa, which focused on developing manufacturing capabilities and building an integrated regional textiles value chain across multiple countries in West Africa. IFC’s strategic priorities for Togo focus on supporting agriculture, transport, logistics, access to finance, energy, digital, housing, and health. As of June 2024, IFC had an active investment portfolio of $131m in Togo that is supporting these key sectors.

IFC

Star Garments

Sri Lanka

Textile & Apparel

Textile Production

West Africa

Togo

Expansion