Nexgen Packaging Furthers African Footprint Through Arise IIP Partnership

As part of its African expansion strategy, trim, label and packaging producer Nexgen Packaging has entered a partnership with industrial park developer Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (IIP).

Arise IIP’s mission is to use local resources that would otherwise be exported as raw materials and establish manufacturing infrastructure to create high value-add goods. Sub-Saharan Africa is a major exporting region for cotton, and OECD projects that by 2030 it will account for 15 percent of exports, making it the third largest exporter behind the United States and Brazil. In partnership with local governments, Arise IIP has built textile manufacturing ecosystems in Benin and Togo to use this cotton locally for apparel, which is then exported internationally.

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“We met with the Arise team over a year ago as we were building our strategy for expansion into Africa,” Javier Menchen, sales director Africa at Nexgen Packaging, told Sourcing Journal. “Their strategy of building local and sustainable solutions through their platform resonated with us. We believe that companies should take an active interest in the communities where they operate, and this was a point of commonality between us. We were also impressed with their commitment and execution speed. We knew at that point that this would be the basis for a good partnership.”

Arise IIP will be sourcing a range of trim and label products from Nexgen, including hangtags, wash care labels, size labels, flag labels, barcodes, printed tape and stickers. As part of the partnership, Nexgen has first established local print production nearby to Arise IIP’s facilities. Eventually, the packaging provider will be setting up an office and manufacturing capabilities within the apparel factories, further shortening the supply chain to give Arise improved lead times and reduced logistics costs.

“Trims and packaging accessories form an integral part of the finished product in the apparel industry, so in order to achieve a complete ecosystem, it calls for an alliance with a quality supplier of trims and accessories, who shall expand their manufacturing footprints within our textile zones,” Vikas Budhiraja, vice president textiles and apparel at Arise IIP, told Sourcing Journal. “Nexgen being an established, innovation-led trim manufacturing company with an Africa strategy, it offers quite a synergy for such collaboration.”

This partnership builds on Nexgen’s existing operations in Africa, as it works toward its goal to become “the leading sustainable packaging provider in Africa,” per Menchen. About five years ago, Nexgen opened a headquarters in Ethiopia, and the company announced earlier this year that it will be building a continent-wide headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, slated to open in early 2024. In a sustainable touch, the base of this facility is constructed from three upcycled shipping containers. Once the Nairobi headquarters is operational, it will also support Arise IIP with distribution services.

Nexgen Packaging’s strategy has been to set up both central production hubs and local manufacturing nearby to factories, allowing for speedier fulfillment and less environmental footprint tied to transportation. Today, its manufacturing map spans 19 countries.

Arise IIP has established its textile parks nearby to ports in countries that are eligible for duty benefits to the United States and European Union, such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) that gives Sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the U.S. for products including textile goods. Arise is currently exporting to the U.S. and expects to start shipping goods to the EU in the next couple months.

Mordor Intelligence projects that the African textile market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4 percent from 2023 to 2028.

“This collaboration is going to be a considerable milestone for the textile industry in Africa,” said Rajaguru Raja Thandal, textile business CEO at Arise IIP, in a statement about the relationship with Nexgen. “We remain certain that it will bring innovative solutions and elevate the textile industry to new heights, making Africa the next global textile hub.”

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