Kenya’s KAM seeks reduction in import of second-hand clothing, shoes

-By Mansi Suryavanshi.

INSIGHTS

• Domestic merchants of used clothes (mitumba) would be required to sell at least 10% of their stock of apparel made in Kenya if a new proposal from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) is approved.
• The trade organization requests that the government create a plan to limit the entry of used apparel and shoes.

A new proposal by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) would mandate that local vendors of used clothes (mitumba) include a minimum of 10% of garments made in the nation in their inventory.

The trade organization requests that the government create a structure that limits the entry of used clothes and shoes in its report on Kenya’s textile and apparel industry. This will make it possible for fabric to be supplied to export processing zones (EPZs) for an estimated $300 million (Sh40.8 billion).

By reducing the import of old clothing, according to KAM, the domestic textile industry may save Kenya about Sh40 billion annually and generate nearly 200,000 new employment by 2030. 

In AM’s suggestion, the government was urged to create a legislative framework for executing the “Buy Kenya Build Kenya (BKBK)” plan, which would require all government ministries, departments, and agencies to purchase from local textile producers.

According to a report in a Kenyan newspaper, KAM claims that this may be achieved by restarting cotton ginneries and textile mills and raising spinning capacity from the present 39% to at least 65% by 2030.