Mali has mastered cotton production, ginning and export—but it has yet to capture much of the value created by the crop. Nearly 98 per cent of the fibre produced in the country still leaves without passing through a Malian spinning mill, according to prominent entrepreneur Mossadeck Bally.
Bally is the founder and chairman of Azalaï Hotels Group and president of Mali’s National Council of Employers (CNPM). What began as a single hotel in Bamako, the capital, has grown into a group running high-standard properties in seven other major West African cities.
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In an interview with AllAfrica, Bally said Mali’s position as a leading cotton producer should underpin a broader industrial strategy—one that keeps more fibre at home, begins with spinning, draws textile manufacturers to the country and secures long-term financing for the sector. In the interview [VIDEO], he explains what Mali must do to attract the capital required for that shift. “We must come together around a 30- or 40-year vision: move from a producer and exporter of cotton fibre to a country industrialised around cotton,” he says.
MORE: Cotton to Cloth: Africa’s Processing Potential
