Star Garments to build first overseas manufacturing facility in Togo

Star’s planned apparel manufacturing factory in Togo

Star Garments Group announced its plan to build a large-scale apparel export manufacturing factory in Togo to boost the West African country’s textile and apparel capabilities, through a financing package that includes a US$ 15 million loan by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.
The move marks Star’s first manufacturing facility outside of Sri Lanka. This project aims to create thousands of jobs in Togo, putting Star on the global map as a multiple country-of-origin supplier. Star’s facility will also be the first large-scale apparel manufacturing facility in Togo.
Star will build a greenfield clothing factory in Togo in Plateforme Industrielled ‘Adétikopé, an industrial park on the outskirts of Lomé, and provide around 4,520 direct and indirect jobs, especially for women, and contribute significantly to export-oriented value addition by 2030. Star’s cut-make-trim factory will be a part of Lomé’s high-value-added industrial chains in several agro-industrial sectors.

The US$ 15 million by IFC will comprise US$ 7.5 million from its own account and another US$ 7.5 million loan supported by the International Development Association Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility. 
‘‘We are continuously looking at diversifying our manufacturing base and our upcoming facility in Togo will be a cost-competitive alternative to our valued customers and fuel our global growth in bringing some of the best world-class apparel manufacturing to the West African region,’ said A. Sukumaran, Managing Director of Star Garments Group.
West Africa’s textile and apparel sector holds significant growth potential, with the region having a large and young talent pool. There have been improvements recently that are favorable to the sector, such as building ports and establishing special economic zones. 

This project is an outcome of IFC’s Cotton-to-textiles Value Chain Study in West Africa, focused on developing manufacturing capabilities and building an integrated regional textiles value chain across multiple countries in West Africa.As of June 2024, IFC had an active investment portfolio of US$ 131 million in Togo that supports agriculture, transport, logistics, access to finance, energy, digital, housing, and health.