Senegal has inaugurated a new textile manufacturing facility in the Diamniadio industrial zone near Dakar, backed by Turkish investment group AVCI Global Industrie, as the government pushes to expand domestic garment production and process more of the countryโs cotton at home.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye opened the plant on June 20, accompanied by Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo and Industry and Trade Minister Serigne Guรจye Diop. AVCI Global Industrieโs chief executive, Cihad Bey, traveled from Turkey for the ceremony, along with other institutional and business figures.
The facility represents an investment of 6 billion CFA francs, or roughly $10.45 million, housed in a 4,680-square-metre warehouse within Diamniadioโs special economic zone. It has the capacity to produce around 1,200 garments a day and is expected to create close to 200 direct jobs, with the government prioritizing young and female workers as part of its broader employment strategy.
Senegalโs Ministry of Industry and Trade confirmed the inauguration in a statement posted to Facebook, framing the plant as part of a wider push under the โSenegal 2050 Visionโ to revive the textile industry and deepen Senegalese-Turkish economic cooperation through job-creating, value-added investment.
Faye struck a similar note in remarks at the ceremony, saying the factory shows the country โgetting back to workโ and marks a partial reconciliation with its industrial past. He recalled that Senegal once had a substantial textile industry, traces of which remain in the names of certain towns, and said AVCIโs arrival amounts to more than a private investment โ calling it the realization of a strategic vision the government has been pursuing. He also thanked the company for betting on the countryโs stability, workforce and location along Atlantic trade routes.
The plant emerged from a tripartite agreement signed in February 2025 between the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Agency for the Development and Promotion of Industrial Sites (APROSI), and AVCI Global Industrie. A family-owned company founded in Istanbul in 1990, AVCI has more than three decades of experience in garment manufacturing, particularly underwear, and already operates subsidiaries in Senegal and Libya. Under its AVCI Global Textile banner and Lazuma apparel brand, the company began test production in Senegal in August 2025, with plans to scale the site in phases toward an eventual workforce of 750.
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The Diamniadio factory is designed to process raw Senegalese cotton into higher-value finished garments rather than exporting fiber unprocessed, a longstanding gap in the countryโs textile value chain.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Senegal is projected to produce about 55,000 bales of cotton fiber, or nearly 12,500 metric tons, during the 2026/27 season, with only a small share currently processed domestically. Data from Senegalโs National Agency for Statistics and Demography showed the country imported clothing and accessories worth nearly 19.45 billion CFA francs ($34 million) in 2024, against clothing export revenue of just 1.62 billion CFA francs ($2.83 million).
Government officials said part of the ambition is to gradually redirect uniform contracts for the armed forces, security services and public administration toward domestic producers like AVCI, reducing reliance on imported uniforms. An interministerial protocol between the Ministry of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is intended to coordinate the economic, fiscal and social benefits of that shift. Officials also emphasized technology and skills transfer, with Turkish textile expertise expected to be integrated into national vocational training programs over time.
Beyond domestic supply, AVCIโs facility is targeting regional markets across the Economic Community of West African States, a bloc of more than 400 million consumers, as well as clients in the United States and Europe. The investment aligns with Senegalโs โSenegal 2050โ development strategy, which identifies industrialization, job creation and economic diversification as core priorities, and follows a broader pattern of expanding Turkish investment in African manufacturing, construction and energy sectors.
Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week Dakar, a regional industry event connecting manufacturers, buyers, suppliers and policymakers, cited the AVCI inauguration as an example of the kind of sourcing and investment opportunities emerging across Senegalโs textile sector. The event is scheduled for April 15-17, 2027, at the Centre des Expositions de Diamniadio.
The success of the Diamniadio plant will likely hinge on whether it becomes anchored within a wider industrial ecosystem โ linking cotton farmers, processors, logistics providers and regional buyers โ rather than operating as a standalone facility, industry observers say.