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The government has hinted at plans to ban ‘mitumba’ trade once the local textile sector has the capacity to handle the demand for clothing at affordable prices.

Trade, Investment and Industry Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria said his first responsibility will be to engage players in the textile sub-sector to ensure cheaper clothes are available in the market.

Kuria made the remarks at the annual Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) sponsored Changamka shopping festival at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Nairobi yesterday.

A 2019 report by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)indicated that 91.5 per cent of Kenyans households use mitumba clothes. According to Kuria, apparel industries domiciled in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) sell clothes to the US under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa) treaty at much cheaper prices than mitumba.

Local market

“So, it is not a question of price. It is a question of availability…and I will work with the textile industry to ensure that first we make the cheaper clothes available in this market, whatever is required for us to sell to America the same way to our people, he said.

He added: “Once the option is available, we will do like South Africa. South Africa banned Mitumba. I am sure you want me to say we ban mitumba. Yes, we are going to ban mitumba,” he said.

In March, the National Treasury temporarily lifted the restriction that compelled EPZs to sell only 20 per cent of the annual production in the local market to100 per cent as part of efforts to cushion the industry from losses inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Though classified under the informal sector, the industry is a blend of both skilled and unskilled labour from different sectors, employing an estimated 10 per cent of the total extended labour force of around 20.6 million people, according to a 2020 Labour Force Survey report.

The pronouncement by Kuria has thrown a lifeline to players in the sub-sector which attracted a lot of interest in the run-up to the General Election, with presidential aspirants Raila Odinga and William Ruto saying they will promote the local fabric industry by giving mitumba importers first priority in marketing locally manufactured clothes.

Traders had expressed fears of losing their livelihood and those of their families should the trade be banned. IEC said the sub-Sector contributes at least Sh1 billion in revenues per month.

At the same time, Kuria announced a raft of measures to increase the manufacturing sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 7.2 per cent to 20 per cent in the next eight years.

He said the government will set up manufacturing and export hubs, especially for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in all the 47 counties this year, as well as country export hubs.

Distributing products

The CS said the government will create common user facilities for SMEs without capacity to utilise the county hubs, while in the case of country hubs, warehouses will be set up in 50 countries including South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for distributing products from Kenyan companies. Dubai will cater for the Gulf market, he said.

“I just put in a request to the South African government to be given facilities. We have already been given space and we are going to start in earnest,” he said.

On his recent trip to South Africa, Kuria disclosed that the two countries had taken a common stand to seek an extension of AGOA treaty beyond 2025 to protect jobs and the positive contributions that continue to accrue from the treaty.

The Agoa treaty lapses in 2025, and in its position, Kenya is negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US allowing for export of thousands of products to the US without tariffs or quotas.