Browsing: second hand clothes

Second hand clothes bales. Africa has been fighting a losing battle in banning second hand clothing which is accused of killing local textile industries. www.theexchange.africa

Africa is fighting a losing battle banning used apparel

Industry and Trade

The second-hand clothes business is huge in Africa raking in billions especially in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda and Benin. 

These five countries are among the world's biggest markets for used clothing sold to the masses due to affordability. So big is the business in Kenya that importers saw a 4.9 per cent increase from US$157.4 million in 2018 to US$164.8 million in 2019. 

Data by the Economic Survey 2020 shows that Kenyan traders imported 185,000 tonnes of used apparel in 2019 alone. That same year, the second-hand clothes industry popularly known as Mitumba contributed KShs12 billion (US$110 million) translating to US$10 million per month.…

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Mitumba bales ready for dispatch. Kenya is one of the largest importers of second-hand clothes in Sub-Saharan Africa. www.theexchange.africa

Second-hand clothes business crucial to Kenya’s economy

Industry and Trade

The annual value of this trade was reported in 2019 to be on average Ksh 18 billion (US$180 million) which is less than 1 per cent of the total country’s imports. The total imports of textiles in Kenya were valued at around Ksh 131 billion (US$1.3 billion) depicting that the second-hand clothes represented 12.5 per cent of the country’s total imports.…

President Uhuru Kenyatta - The Exchange

President Kenyatta lifts ban on importation of second hand clothes

Entrepreneurship

President Uhuru Kenyatta has lifted the ban imposed on the import of second hand clothes in the country.

Speaking at the 11th briefing over the COVID-19 pandemic on the 26th of August 2020, the president said that Details of how this will operated and the protocols for the same would be announced by the Government.

In March this year, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) imposed the ban on second hand clothes as precautionary measure to curb the spread of the global pandemic in the country.

Also Read: C-19 Pandemic: The fashion industry’s black swan event

“The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) wish to notify the general public and all importers of used garments (Mitumba) and used shoes that the importation of used garments and used footwear is hereby prohibited with immediate effect until further notice. This is pursuant to the declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic …