About three million jobs will be at risk should the East African nations impose restrictions on the trade of second-hand clothing, better known as Mitumba.
A new report commissioned by the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya (MCAK) on the Second-Hand Clothing Industry in the East Africa Community shows that the sector employs approximately 3.4 million people in the region.
The report, launched on Monday, July 10, states that any restrictions would violate trade agreements, particularly with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United States.
The report also shows that a policy approach in which governments focus on proactively expanding state of the art sorting-facilities while boosting skills and entrepreneurship is far more likely to deliver growth and jobs in the future.
The report called upon the new domestic textile production industry and the second-hand clothes industry to collaborate for the mutual benefit and growth of both sectors.
”National governments should shape policies that boost second-hand businesses in EAC member-states, rather than pursuing protectionist industrial policies that are unlikely to benefit workers or consumers,’’ it stated.
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The second-hand clothing and footwear sector makes substantial contributions to GDP growth and government revenues. In 2021 alone, the industry delivered government revenues estimated at US$419 million across East Africa.
Kenya is one of the largest importers of second-hand clothes in Sub-Saharan Africa. A 2019 study by the MCAK revealed that 91.5 percent of households buy second-hand clothes worth Sh1,000 and below.
The report also highlighted that Kenyans spent about Sh197.5 billion, an average of Sh4,150 per person per year, for all purchases of second-hand and new clothes and footwear. In Kenya, the sector employs approximately two million people.
Speaking on Monday during the launch of the report, MCAK chairperson Teresiah Wairimu reiterated the importance of the second-hand clothing sector and the urgent need to support its growth and development.
”The second-hand clothing sector is not just about selling used clothes; it represents a powerful force for economic growth, environmental sustainability, and job creation in East Africa. It is a sector that empowers millions of people, particularly women and young people, by providing them with employment opportunities and the chance to establish thriving micro-businesses throughout the second-hand clothing supply chain,’’ Said Wairimu.
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Wairimu further dispelled the misconception that a growing second-hand clothing industry undermines domestic textile production, arguing that weakening the used clothing sector in the EAC would benefit the cheap garments trade in China.
She called for significant investment in supply-chain infrastructure for second-hand clothes, including the expansion of sorting centers in strategic locations, to enhance efficiency and ensure that the sector operates at its full potential.
”It is essential for policymakers to recognize that the expansion of domestic textile production and the growth of the second-hand clothing industry are not mutually exclusive. We should build upon the strong foundation we already have—the experienced and thriving used clothing sector—and leverage it to support and stimulate our textile production,” she said.
Trade, investment, and Industry Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kuria had earlier unveiled plans to ban the importation of secondhand clothes in a bid to boost the local textile market. The CS said players in the Mitumba industry will be given an affordable alternative.
“I will work with the textile industry to ensure that we make cheaper clothes available in this market, and then we will ban mitumba when we give people an alternative,” he said.
