Tanzania is perhaps best known as one of Africa's major cotton producers, with average crop yield for the past three years reaching 2,75,700 tons of seed cotton. Of this around 70 per cent is exported as lint after being semi-processed. But the country also has a long history in garment and textile production going back as far as 1966.

There are currently around 16 or 17 big factories in Tanzania, of which four or five export outside the East African Community. Two are just offshore stitching enterprises. Tanzania aims to be an origin for making garments with the potential to integrate knitting, weaving and spinning. The country has benefits like reasonable labor costs, large quantities of locally available cotton and yarn, an infrastructure, unrivalled market access and political stability.

Like many sub-Saharan African countries, Tanzania's garment exports to the US enjoy duty-free access. The country has similar access to European Union markets. Currently, 68 per cent of apparel exports from Tanzania to the US are synthetic knit shirts for men and boys.

By focusing on building a new mass stitching industry, Tanzania can start with a clean industry without built-in compliance issues and can leapfrog several stages of development.