Origin Africa, both an international trade fair on textile and clothing and an ongoing effort dedicated to improving African Cotton, Textile and Apparel trade which is all set to be held in Madagascar in November. This is the first time for Madagascar to host this international event, said the Executive Director of Madagascar Export Processing Zone Association, Eva Razafimandimby during a press conference held in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo on Monday.

This fair will be the engine for the revival of Madagascar’s textile which has been doubly affected by the global financial and economic crisis of 2008 and the suspension of the country’s eligibility from the U.S. African Growth Opportunity Acts (AGOA) in January 2010, Razafimandimby added.

Amid the political crisis in Madagascar in 2009, the United States suspended from 2010 to 2014 Madagascar’s eligibility to AGOA, a program allowing African countries to export their textile products without tax to the United States. Due to the suspension of AGOA, hundreds of thousands jobs were lost, making the country among the poorest countries in the world.

By this fair, Madagascar will target to regain its place in the first rank among African countries in terms of textile export and is planning to export about 100 million US dollars of textile products. The country is currently at the fourth rank after Kenya, Lesotho and Mauritius.

Before the political crisis in 2009, Madagascar exported around 350 million US dollars by year but the export value dropped to 15 million in 2010 amid the suspension of the country from the AGOA.

The main destinations of textile products made of Madagascar’s processing zones are European Union countries, USA, member countries of Southern African Development Community and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Australia, Canada and China.

According to Eva Razafimandimby, hosting of this international fair on textile is important for Madagascar because the development of the country was made in the textile sector since the last 10 years. The sector recorded 105,000 direct jobs in April 2016 representing 30 percent of jobs in the formal sector in Madagascar.

Africa Cotton & Textile Industries Federation (ACTIF), Publi Promo Ltd together with partners Madagascar Export Processing Zone Association (GEFP) are organizing ORIGIN AFRICA 2016 Trade Show which will take place from the 3rd - 5th November, 2016 at the Forello Centre in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

The Event promises an International Trade Exhibition like no other, giving an opportunity to enjoy the benefit of preferential trade agreements, the development of regional trading blocs and the encouraging investment conditions that make Africa "The Next Major Sourcing Destination".