Indian businessman Gagan Gupta (ARISE IIP) wants to transform sub-Saharan Africa into Bangladesh
In 2024 in Bangladesh, violent protests by textile workers lasted six months.
“Will Benin become the new Bangladesh of West Africa?” This was the question posed by Le Point magazine in January 2025 during an interview with Yannick Capiron, marketing director of the Glo-Djigbé economic zone, who shared the goal of Arise IIP (Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms), a company that sets up industrial platforms: “Within three years, we want to reach $15 billion in textile exports.” Ranked second largest textile exporter after China (€255 billion), Bangladesh has been working for fashion brands since the mid-1990s, and its textile exports reached €42 billion last year.
But do sub-Saharan Africans want a model that has made Bangladesh the most polluted country in the world without lifting its female workers out of poverty? While the annual gross margins of fast fashion leaders such as H&M and Inditex (Zara) are around 50% and 60% of their turnover of €20 billion and €38 billion respectively, the share paid to workers in low-cost countries, who are often paid around €0.50 per hour, does not exceed 3% or 4%.. Thus, after 30 years of hard work by millions of women workers, often described by NGOs as slaves to fast fashion, Bangladesh was still among the 45 least developed countries (LDCs) in 2024.
Despite claiming to uphold values such as sustainability and fairness, and despite owing his fortune to his activities in sub-Saharan Africa over the past 20 years, Gagan Gupta nevertheless chose to base Arise IIP and the $4 billion ATIF fund, renamed Equitane to promote “equitable development for all,” in the tax haven of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, the consumerist ambition to flood the world with clothes made by underpaid workers competing with those in Bangladesh, where wages are higher, is neither sustainable nor fair.
Gagan Gupta does not seem to have a real economic vision that would enable him to bring about positive and profound change in sub-Saharan Africa. His textile project, which consists of setting up low-cost subcontracting or outsourcing platforms, of which there are thousands around the world, appears to be opportunistic. Pouring concrete slabs on which unfortunate, underpaid textile workers are then installed to satisfy mostly foreign investors whose intentions are unknown and textile groups always on the lookout for the lowest wages does not seem particularly innovative.
In the absence of decent wages and at a time when African workers have access to the internet and can find out how much their counterparts around the world are earning or see their violent protests even though their wages are higher, the long-term viability of the concept is questionable. For example, “In Ethiopia, the world's new textile factory, workers are already rebelling against the fast-fashion model” (Novethic) and “It has been six months since garment workers began protesting in Bangladesh” (Amnesty International). We must therefore fear unrest throughout sub-Saharan Africa, including existing areas or areas planned for development by Arise IIP in Togo, Gabon, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sierra Leone, Malawi, Rwanda, Chad, Senegal, etc.
It is unclear whether the modernization and well-being of African working populations are the main concerns of the Indian businessman, and perhaps that is why "The investment fund co-founded by Gagan Gupta is increasing its holdings in strategic African sectors, from Malian gold to generic drugs. The goal is to double its assets under management to $8 billion by 2030." (Source: Jeune Afrique)
There is also a fear that once he has made his fortune, the Indian billionaire, already comfortably settled in Dubai, will divest himself of embarrassing industrial assets such as those of Arise IIP, which could blow up in his face. But these will nevertheless have given him the space and financial credibility he needs to take the next steps in his personal enrichment. However, the disappointment of populations and countries hoping for a better future could be great, as could the misfortune of investors who did not pull out in time. The Indian-origin Singaporean group OLAM has gradually divested itself of Arise, selling its remaining shares in 2023 for $189 million to the Emirati investment fund Africa Transformation and Industrialization Fund and $176 million in 2025 to the Equitane DMCC fund, mainly owned by Gagan Gupta, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) based in Nigeria and the FEDA fund created by Afreximbank in Cairo (Egypt).
But mistrust seems to reign: On February 15, 2023, the CEO of the French public investment bank (BPI France), Nicolas Dufourq, announced: “Bpifrance and Arise IIP are forming a partnership to promote agricultural processing and co-industrialization projects on a pan-African scale.” But two and a half years later, the project appears to be at a standstill. Has BPI opened its eyes to the risk of scandal associated with being based in a tax haven, as well as to a model based on low wages that can devastate the environment while encouraging fast fashion? However, the article “Investigation into Arise IIP, the company that is fleecing African farmers” published in the newspaper L'Humanité, even though it has been denied by Arise IIP, may also have dampened the enthusiasm of the BPI or that of potential investors from the EU and the US. 07/05/2025
Documentation:
In Benin, the gamble of forced industrialization
In Bangladesh, a historic strike by textile workers
It has been six months since garment workers began protesting in Bangladesh
Arise IIP and Bpifrance ready to nurture a future “French champion” in Africa
Gagan Gupta (Arise): “The time has come to accelerate Africa's industrialization”
Despite the political crisis, Equitane is banking on Mali's gold
Linked to Gagan Gupta, A2MP becomes a key player in mining finance in Africa
Arise: VIPs, advisors, new allies... The Gagan Gupta galaxy
Investigation into Arise IIP, the firm that is fleecing African farmers