Why some African countries do not want charity clothing

The donation of casual clothes has had a negative effect on the textile industries of African countries

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said: "We are in a situation where we have to choose – you choose to be a recipient of used clothing … or choose to grow our textile industries. "

Rwanda plans to ban the import of used clothing. here 2019 and has already set up tariffs.

Imports of second-hand cheap western clothing had an impact on local clothing manufacturers – but changes in global trade policies and the rise of Asian clothing producers also changed

. The labor trade also employs thousands of people in some countries. African countries used to have large textile industries – and some critics attribute the decadence of cheap occasional clothing from abroad to the shrinking textile sector of the continent.

There has long been a worldwide trade in second-hand clothes, donated to charity. shops in the wealthy western nation and then sold to traders in Africa and elsewhere in the world.

This is a big deal. Some wholesale traders in African countries have established very profitable businesses.

However, some African countries are fed up with their troubles and the impact they have on local industries.

In 2015, member states of the East African Community (EAC), which includes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, announced that it would ban the occasional imports from 2019 to protect its own clothing manufacturers. the global second-hand textile market (totaling $ 274 million in 2015) has started to impose tariffs.

But under pressure from the United States, EAC countries cut tariffs and removed bans. Rwanda, however, refused to back down

And in March 2018, the United States temporarily suspended Rwanda from an arrangement allowing sub-Saharan countries preferential access to the US market.

But Rwanda remained firm and maintained its import tariffs, She declared that she wanted to create her own textile industry "Made in Rwanda"

and, as a result, she lost some of her privileges free of export duties to the United States.

The countries of East Africa were not supported by everyone in these countries, especially those whose livelihoods depend on the sector.

The argument of the effect of the second-hand clothing trade must be placed in a broader context. under pressure from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for many years, countries have embarked on structural adjustment programs that have effectively reduced subsidies to protect their local industry and have opened their

This facilitated the work of European, American and Asian manufacturers of clothing for export to the African continent.

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