Support textiles and apparel sector for much-needed jobs

As the country was transfixed last week with the high-profile arrest and court appearance of former Finance minister Henry Rotich and his principal secretary, Dr Kamau Thugge, many missed the government’s approval of the setting up of a large textile- and apparel-manufacturing company at the Athi River Export Processing Zone (EPZ) that will employ 3,100 people once it starts operating.

LITTLE ACTION

That is big deal. But the bigger deal is that Mass Holdings, the company whose application has been approved, is increasing its footprint in the Kenyan market from where, all factors being equal, it should boost the textiles and apparel sector significantly. Mass Holdings is one of the big hitter global companies turning over a revenue of close to $2 billion (Sh200 billion) annually, and is looking for more competitive locations for its businesses.

Although Ethiopia has created conditions that have attracted large scale investments in the sector (and so far provided direct employment to more than 60,000 people in five years), Kenya’s advantages are superior to those that Ethiopia can offer.

Two advantages stand out: The language and infrastructure facilitative of speed to export and import. The common English language provides ease of skills transfer in an industry where precision is key for output of quality garments.

It is also critical that manufacturers are able to very quickly send apparel out to their buyers in the US or EU markets and receive imports of necessary inputs. Ethiopia is disadvantaged on both fronts.

But President Kenyatta must move a lot faster and demand much more proactivity from his team if these advantages are to benefit Kenyans. So far, there has been too much talk, research and prevarication but little action.

This research has produced an astonishing number of expert papers describing how best to harness the great potential in the cotton, textiles and apparel sector to create jobs and earn foreign exchange.

There is, for instance, the Kenya National Agoa Strategy and Action Plan (2018-2023), a USAid-sponsored study done for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives; and the Kenya Apparel and Textile Industry: Diagnosis, Strategy and Action Plan done by the then-Ministry of Industrialisation and Enterprise Development in 2015. Studies have been done by the African Development Bank, McKinsey, the UK’s overseas development agency DfID and others.

$800 BILLION

These papers, regrettably, have not elicited much action — until now. The recent launch of the Rivatex company in Eldoret, the signing of the Mass Holdings deal and the planned revamp of the Kicomi factory in Kisumu are positive moves. But these are small steps being taken when substantial ones are possible and necessary.

The global apparel industry is worth about $800 billion annually with the US and EU the dominant markets and China, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and other countries in South East Asia the main suppliers. China is increasingly becoming less attractive as a source country because of higher labour costs and buyers are looking elsewhere for more competitive apparel and garments.

East Africa, and Kenya in particular, is an ideal alternative. Ethiopia saw the opportunity and jumped in, but the market is very big. The export imperative must be at the heart of any initiative because domestic markets, though important, can never sufficiently deliver the full value of this sector.

Uganda is very keen to revamp its neglected cotton textiles and apparel sector and is completing its strategy, with the support of Msingi East Africa, a development agency with a mandate to build industries that can have a large-scale impact on people’s lives

In the few months left of his Presidency, Mr Kenyatta should take personal charge of the textiles and apparel docket. It is, truly, a low-hanging fruit.

Mr Mshindi, a former editor-in-chief of the Nation Media Group, is a consulting editor. [email protected] @tmshindi