Kenya has significant opportunities to develop a more competitive and integrated textile manufacturing sector, but challenges ranging from energy and raw-material costs to infrastructure, skills and trade uncertainty continue to influence investment decisions, according to Manfred Havenith, Area Sales Manager at A. Monforts Textilmaschinen.
His assessment follows the recent VDMA German textile machinery delegation to Kenya, which provided participating companies with first-hand insights into different parts of the country’s textile and apparel value chain, from spinning and finishing to garment manufacturing.
The comments also add another industry perspective to a recent Kohan Textile Journal interview with Boris Abadjieff of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association, who discussed Kenya’s industrial potential and the conditions required to strengthen upstream textile manufacturing and build more integrated textile value chains.
Read more: VDMA Sees Significant Growth Potential for Africa’s Textile Industry
VDMA Delegation Provides Closer Look at Kenya’s Textile Industry
Reflecting on the delegation, Havenith said:
“The VDMA visit was extremely well organised and provided a valuable opportunity to explore the potential of Kenya’s textile industry, from spinning and finishing through to garment manufacturing, while exchanging views with fellow participants in a very constructive atmosphere,” says Monforts Area Sales Manager Manfred Havenith.
“We also gained a clearer understanding of the challenges facing Kenyan textile manufacturers, many of which are familiar to producers around the world. These include the availability and cost of raw materials, energy prices, labour costs and skills development, as well as infrastructure issues relating to transport, electricity and water supplies.”
These challenges underline the complexity of developing a more integrated textile manufacturing base. Expanding local production beyond individual stages of the value chain requires not only machinery investment, but also the industrial conditions necessary to support reliable and competitive manufacturing.
Read More: Monforts on the Move in Textile Growth Markets
Trade Conditions and AGOA Influence Investment Decisions
Trade conditions are another important consideration, Havenith noted, particularly customs regulations and access to international markets through agreements such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), where uncertainty over long-term continuation can complicate investment decisions.
This is particularly relevant for textile projects, where investments in machinery and integrated production capacity often require long-term planning and greater certainty over future market access.
Havenith also pointed to competitive pressure within Kenya’s domestic and regional markets:
“At the same time, domestic and regional markets face considerable pressure from low-cost Asian imports and second-hand clothing arriving from Europe, but despite these challenges, I believe Kenya has significant opportunities to develop its textile industry further.
“As a specialist in finishing technology with many thousands of installations around the world, we continue to evolve our systems in direct response to feedback from customers and this trip provided some very useful insights.”
The observations reinforce points raised by Boris Abadjieff in his recent interview with Kohan Textile Journal, where he identified financing, energy, infrastructure, skills and long-term investment certainty among the factors that will determine whether Kenya can deepen its textile value chain.
Abadjieff also highlighted the importance of strengthening upstream production—including spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing and finishing—rather than concentrating development efforts only on garment manufacturing.
Read more: Kenya’s Cotton Revival Shifts Focus From Farming to Textile Manufacturing
Monforts Highlights Kenya’s Strategic Advantages
Despite the challenges, Havenith identified several fundamentals that could support Kenya’s future development as a textile manufacturing location.
He concluded:
“Kenya has valuable natural resources, a strategically advantageous geographical position and access to international markets through the modern port of Mombasa. These are important foundations on which to build a more competitive and integrated textile manufacturing sector.”
For textile machinery manufacturers such as Monforts, closer engagement with Kenyan producers can also provide valuable insight into the technologies and production solutions required by the local industry.
Kenya’s opportunity is therefore not simply to expand textile production, but to build stronger connections between the different stages of its value chain.
Whether the country can translate its resources, geographical position and existing manufacturing base into a more integrated textile industry will depend largely on investment conditions, infrastructure, skills development and long-term access to key markets.
