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Kenya Local Design Boom Still Far Off Despite Used-Clothing Ban

Kenya Local Design Boom Still Far Off Despite Used-Clothing Ban

Kenya’s domestic fashion designers see the government’s ban on the importation of used clothing as a key step to growing their industry, even as a reasonable sales boost is still years away.

The ban in March, as a measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus, supports government plans to promote the local textile and apparels industry, which the statistics agency estimates to be operating at more than 30% below capacity. Kenya earned about 34 billion shillings ($315 million) from apparel and 18.5 billion shillings from textiles in 2017.

Kenya Local Design Boom Still Far Off Despite Used-Clothing Ban

Promotional efforts may only pay off in two to three years, said Nakhulo Khaimia, whose five-year-old fashion business is based in the capital, Nairobi. “We are still a long way as a country,” she said, referring to consumers shifting to pay more for new clothing.

Still, Khaimia draws inspiration from leaders, including President Uhuru Kenyatta and his ministers, wearing locally-made attires to continue designing.

Bad Timing

Previous attempts to ban used-garment imports in Kenya were pushed back by traders who said their businesses helped to cloth millions who can’t afford new items. Some second-hand clothing sells for as little as 100 shillings.

Kenya Local Design Boom Still Far Off Despite Used-Clothing Ban

Neighboring Uganda reversed its April proposal of a similar ban after the move drew ire from the public, and the government didn’t want it to disrupt other anti-virus efforts.

Critics have said Covid-19 can’t justify the prohibition as it mainly spreads person-to-person, and urged Kenyan authorities to lift the ban. The clothing is in transit for weeks to months “far longer than the virus has ever been shown to survive,” Abingdon, Virginia-based Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association said in a statement.

Kenya Local Design Boom Still Far Off Despite Used-Clothing Ban

The pandemic handed the authorities reason to impose the ban, but also battered demand for non-essential items including clothing, second-hand or new.

Sally Karago, one of Kenya’s pioneer designers, with a career spanning three decades is usually contracted by hotels to make for them linen. But many properties closed. “Most of us have shut down,” she said.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.