**3. Oilseeds and textile production competitive challenges in SSA**

Certain competitive challenges affected nearly all the SSA countries, as described below.

• *Insufficient demand from the apparel sector*

A healthy and thriving garment industry offers the stable market demand for textile and apparel inputs that is required to support capital expenditures that take longer to recover than apparel investments.

• *Lack of knowledge of regional and international market opportunities*

Many industry experts pointed to a lack of marketing and business contacts, both within the SSA region and in international markets. According to industry sources, the *A Big Data Analytics Architecture Framework for the Production and International Trade… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107225*

USAID has aided in the development of regional and international market potential, but further assistance is needed.

• *Insufficient supply of reliable electricity at competitive rates*

Many nations in the SSA region have among of the highest electricity tariffs in the world, and many countries have an unstable electrical supply, which adds to producers' expenses. Electricity outages also diminish efficiencies and lower quality in yarn and fabric production.

### • *Insufficient supply of clean water and wastewater treatment facilities*

Many countries lack access to clean water, which is required for the manufacturing of yarn and fabric, particularly for finishing and dyeing activities. Intraregional trade is further hampered by a lack of adequate transportation networks within SSA.

### • *Lack of access to capital at competitive rates*

When capital is available, the high cost of capital not only discourages new investment in yarn, fabric, and other inputs, but it also raises the costs of existing production. The finished products created on this machinery, particularly woven textiles, are often not of adequate quality for export to the United States, the EU, or similar markets, or for use in downstream commercial garment production for export to these countries.

### • *Scarcity of trained/skilled labour*

According to industry sources, there is a shortage of trained workers in the textile and garment industries, particularly in nations without a substantial manufacturing base.
