Transformation Through Textiles

By Derrick Silimina

With his pen neatly clipped in the pocket of his blue work suit, Fabrice Tuyishime gazes at the factory floor, where scores of women are sewing garments, stamping logos, and pressing out wrinkles from various apparel destined for both local and international markets.

After a hard day’s work at Rwanda’s renowned garment factory, Tuyishime is in good spirits.

“From the day I got employed here, I worked hard to attain my financial goals and carried out my duties exceptionally, and my hard work paid off recently. I was first employed as a general worker and rose to first a supervisor, and then a year later, a production manager,” Tuyishime told ChinAfrica.

The production manager is among thousands of local Rwandan employees who have benefited a lot since the establishment of the Chinese apparel manufacturing company that has lifted them out of poverty.

It is a known fact that many textile industries in developing countries have died a natural death after years of downturn. But in Rwanda, the Chinese garment factory is transforming the lives of local people through job creation and improved household income.

As China intensifies its technology and skills transfer and creates more jobs amid Africa’s quest to boost its development, experiences on the continent point to a bright outlook.

A source of livelihood

In Gasabo District on the outskirts of Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, just 4 km from the Kigali International Airport, stands the Kigali Special Economic Zone phase 1, which houses one of the most modern garment factories in East Africa - Pink Mango C&D Products Rwanda, a leading manufacturer and exporter of bags, garments, home textiles and packaging for a wide range of internationally recognizable brands.

Imports of secondhand clothes from developed countries continue to rise in many African countries, thereby stifling the continent’s potential to grow its own textile industries. Most donated secondhand clothing is now sold for reuse in markets in Africa. What seems a neat solution to millions of tons of clothing discarded annually is definitely undercutting the local garment manufacturing industry.

For this reason, in its quest to enhance technology transfer and grow the local textile industry, Pink Mango C&D seeks to recruit a total of 7,500 workers in Rwanda and turn itself into the largest and best jacket garment factory in Africa, following an agreement that was inked in 2019 with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) for the establishment of a modern garment factory in the Kigali Special Economic Zone that will produce garments for both the domestic and export markets.

Since its establishment, Pink Mango C&D is certainly transforming the lives of local Rwandans through job creation and improved household income as the Chinese experts at the factory have equipped local staff with knowledge and skills in tailoring; some are now experts in fashion design and production.

Tuyishime is in charge of production and interviews prospective workers, mostly women who took long, dusty bus rides from far and near villages and have waited for hours to apply for work at the modern textile firm.

“It used to be tough for me to support my family; but now I am assured of a monthly salary that enables me to take care of my household with ease. I have even bought a piece of land where I plan to build my house, something I never thought would happen. I am also able to pay school fees for my children. Thanks to the Chinese experts for imparting skills for me to be able to take care of my family,” Anita Kaberuka, one of Tuyishime’s co-workers, said.

Secondhand clothing

It is estimated that East Africa alone imports over $150 million worth of used clothes and shoes, largely from the U.S. and Europe.

In 2017, the United States Agency for International Development estimated that the industry employed over 350,000 people and generated $230 million in government revenue. It also supported the livelihoods of an additional 1.4 million in the East Africa Community bloc.

According to global trade experts, Africa has one of the largest used clothing markets in the world with 80 percent of people on the continent wearing secondhand clothes that are mainly imported from the U.S., Europe, India and Pakistan.

However, those clothes are not necessarily given away once in Africa but are often sold through intermediaries which retail them to local communities.

While this trade is a form of textile recycling, there can be broader negative social and economic consequences for the end markets. 

The influx of secondhand clothing into African markets has created employment, albeit precarious. But the trade has also displaced local garment manufacturing bases – and it may be suppressing the future development or revival of similar domestic industries.

There is a widespread belief that the popularity of used clothing contributed to the collapse of the domestic textile industry in many parts of Africa in the 1980s and 1990s and that the continued use of used clothing is portrayed as undignified and eroding African pride.

Local industry development

In a bid to resuscitate local manufacturing, East African governments, including those of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, agreed in March 2016 to increase tariffs on imported used clothes with the intention of phasing them out by 2019.

In this context, Rwanda has been actively exploring the possibility of banning the import of secondhand clothes. In the 2016/17 financial year, the East African nation raised the tax on imported used clothes from $0.20 to $2.50 per kg and to $4 in the next financial year.

RDB Deputy Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Hategeka recently affirmed that the country has been using fiscal measures to progressively discourage the importation of secondhand clothes because it was hurting the growth of the domestic textile and garment industry.

“The investment of Pink Mango C&D will upskill Rwandans, giving them access to productive jobs and hence ensuring a better standard of living. Secondly, the investment will not only enable us to increase our exports, but also reduce imports of clothing. Therefore, we are achieving two goals by signing this deal,” Hategeka said during the signing ceremony.

He revealed that the establishment of Pink Mango C&D will support the building up of a garment industry ecosystem attracting other players in dyeing, knitting and weaving as well as accessories suppliers to open shops in Rwanda, hence it’s an exciting addition to the growth of the local textile industry.

According to the RDB, the decision to tax used clothing has already helped develop the local textile and shoe industries as production has increased, and the policy is already producing positive results.

C&D Group Chairman Gu Jingyong stressed that his company is not only pursuing profits in Rwanda, but has taken into consideration the long-term positive impact of the investment in the East African country.

“We have brought technology and we hope to improve the living standards of the local people,” Gu added.