ECONOMY-CUBA:
Joint Venture Produces Guayaberas in Africa

Patricia Grogg


HAVANA, (IPS) - A Cuban-Namibian joint venture is bringing the loose-fitting guayabera shirt, worn by men in Cuba and much of the rest of the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela, to the African market.

The binational textile factory is one of five joint ventures set up by Cuba in Africa, and the first company on that continent to produce guayaberas, a traditional garment that emerged in the Cuban countryside in the 18th century.

Worn outside the pants to allow heat to escape and to catch the breeze, the guayabera is specially designed for warm climates. It is a four-pocket, straight-bottom shirt with two panels of eight to 10 rows of tucking, or embroidery, down each side of the front.

''It was amazing to discover that there was interest in this kind of garment in Africa. Cuba is providing the label and the know-how for producing the guayaberas,'' said the director of the governmental Investment Promotion Centre, Anaiza Rodríguez.

Given the characteristics of the guayabera, the African market was identified as a possible niche for Cuban state companies to set up joint ventures for manufacturing and marketing the garment, said the official.

''What is really essential for us is to attract capital from developed nations, but we can also invest in countries of the South that have a similar level of development, or are less developed than Cuba,'' she added.

So far, the main recipient of investment from state-run Cuban companies in Africa is Namibia. In that southwestern African country, two other firms operate in the fishing industry, and a project for producing generic medicines, including antiretroviral AIDS drugs, is about to be launched.

Namibia's Ambassador to Cuba, Claudia Grace Uushona, told IPS that ''this company will be beneficial for us and for neighbouring countries, because all of our medicines are imported, and are very expensive for people to buy.''

She added that ''the guayabera factory, the only one on the African continent, is very important for the economic development'' of Namibia.

A fifth joint venture, another pharmaceutical company, has been set up in Zambia, in southern Africa.

The government of Fidel Castro is also looking into possibilities of new investment projects in other African nations, which Cuba has been assisting in a number of fields since the 1960s.

The Investment Promotion Centre has signed cooperation agreements with its counterpart institutions in Ghana, Namibia and Mozambique, and is negotiating similar accords with Kenya and Nigeria.

''At the present time we are also in the process of identifying and making contact with institutions in South Africa, not only to develop investment projects there, but also to draw South African investment to our country,'' said Rodríguez.

In addition, the 62 agreements on Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments that Cuba has signed include agreements with African countries, such as South Africa, Cape Verde, Namibia, Algeria, Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique and Uganda.

Rodríguez said the sectors on which Havana puts the highest priority with respect to business investment in Africa are health, especially hospital management, and the marketing of computer software programmes related to the medical industry.

In the medical-pharmaceutical industry, there are possibilities of creating joint ventures, which will include technology transfer, to produce generic drugs, said Rodríguez.

Cuban and African companies are also negotiating strategic alliances to produce vaccines against hepatitis B and other diseases plaguing Africa.

Cuba's contribution basically consists of technology, human resources and know-how in areas that are highly developed in this socialist island nation. ''Ties of cooperation and aid between Cuba and Africa preceded these business initiatives,'' said the official.

For decades Cuba has sent doctors to Africa to provide health care in poor areas.

Milagros Franco Suárez, Africa director in Cuba's Ministry for Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration, said the joint ventures between Cuba and African nations are ''another form of cooperation'' with that continent.

''These are countries that are also in search of capital and financing, something that we do not have. For that reason I believe the most important thing is cooperation,'' including assistance in health care, education and sports, she added.

According to reports from the Ministry of Foreign Investment, this Caribbean island nation is currently involved in 80 international economic associations in 30 countries.

Of that total, 55 percent are in Latin America and the Caribbean, 27 percent in Europe, 11 percent in Asia and seven percent in Africa. The most common format is the joint venture, but there are also companies based on 100 percent Cuban capital.

The productive sectors in which Cuba has the greatest presence abroad include the construction industry and the production and marketing of agricultural, biological and pharmaceutical products for veterinarians.

In biotechnology, a sector that is highly developed in Cuba, there are companies that share patents for the production and sale of certain medical products, and others focused on the joint development of research and projects.