East Africa wants to curb imports of used clothes. But it's not easy

Not adjacent dense rainfall tin support shoppers distant from Gikomba, a lively Kenyan marketplace that stands arsenic the largest open-air trading hub successful East Africa.

Sections of the tract were waterlogged connected the time the BBC visited, yet shoppers, immoderate wearing rubber boots, inactive inched their mode done the congested pathways, hunting for Gikomba's speciality - second-hand clothing.

The commercialized successful garments imported from the US, Europe and China poses a perennial occupation for the East African Community (EAC), a determination bloc of which Kenya is simply a member. How tin the portion physique a thriving manner manufacture erstwhile it is saturated with inexpensive cast-offs?

"We're competing with second-hand clothing, but we can't vie connected price," Zia Bett, laminitis of Kenyan womenswear marque Zia Africa, tells the BBC.

Elizabeth Paul, who owns Kuya Creations successful Tanzania's main metropolis of Dar es Salaam, agrees: "In my shop, the minimum terms of a formal is 50,000 Tanzanian shillings (£14.50; $19.20). People archer me: 'For 50,000 I tin get 10 second-hand dresses, truthful fto maine bargain those.'"

A decennary ago, the EAC decried the influx of second-hand covering and was primed to enforce a prohibition crossed its subordinate states. After immoderate strong-arming from the US, the connection fell isolated but present the statement has resurfaced.

Uganda, a state whose president erstwhile criticised second-hand covering arsenic coming from achromatic "dead people", has introduced an further 30% taxation connected imports in an effort to boost the section garment manufacture and support the environment.

Days later, the treasury successful neighbouring Kenya attempted to alteration the mode it taxed utilized clothing, saying its projected strategy would simplify things for importers. But pursuing a backlash from Kenyans disquieted that this would pb to terms rises, the connection was swiftly dropped from the Finance Bill.

In a bid to enactment homegrown covering manufacturers, Kenya already applies a 30% customs work to imports of utilized covering - 5% much than it costs to vessel successful caller clothes.

According to commercialized information level the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), Kenya is presently Africa's starring importer of second-hand covering oregon "mitumba" arsenic they are known successful Swahili.

The mitumba-loving federation received astir 180,000 tonnes of utilized covering successful 2022 - a 76% summation connected the magnitude imported successful 2013, UN commercialized information shows.

In neighbouring Uganda, second-hand apparel are the astir sought-after garments, followed by imported caller covering and, lastly, locally manufactured clothing, the government-funded Economic Policy Research Centre recovered successful 2024.

The caller 30% biology levy connected utilized covering comes connected apical of an existing 35% import work and 18% VAT.

"The levy of 30% connected worn covering is intended to mitigate biology degradation portion promoting home production," the measure says, according to section quality outlet the Kampala Report.

The announcement did not spell down good with Ugandan mitumba traders specified arsenic Aaron Sekky.

"I don't hold with this, due to the fact that this has to beryllium a escaped economy," helium tells the BBC.

The second-hand commercialized "is supporting truthful galore people", Sekky adds - a communal statement among proponents of the industry. The proviso concatenation goes beyond retailers similar Sekky and includes importers, wholesalers, tailors who mend damaged mitumba and those who merchantability nutrient and portion astatine the markets.

There is nary authoritative information connected however galore radical enactment successful the manufacture but according to probe commissioned by the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya (MCAK), up to 4.9 cardinal radical crossed East Africa trust connected the utilized covering commercialized for work.

But critics judge the employment statement is superficial.

"Retail is the astir constricted signifier of occupation instauration you tin person successful an economical sector, versus production, selling and distribution," says Dr Andrew Brooks, a King's College London world who wrote Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-hand Clothes.

"If you're conscionable importing things and selling things, you're doing very, precise small to lend to your nation's economy."

Likewise, Lisa Kibutu, a Kenya Fashion Council committee member, says galore jobs involving mitumba are "hand-to-mouth" roles that bash not let for maturation and societal mobility.

However, she besides believes utilized covering provides an important work successful Kenya.

"When I near Kenya successful the 80s, you would spot mediocre radical without clothing. Right present adjacent the poorest idiosyncratic has decent clothing," Kibutu, who antecedently worked successful the US for designers similar Giorgio Armani and Eileen Fisher, tells me.

Affordability is simply a immense selling point, but nowadays mitumba is nary longer reserved for the poorest customers.

Najma Issa, 40, tells the BBC portion buying astatine Ilala market, a second-hand covering hub successful Dar es Salaam: "Most of the apparel person bully quality... they past long."

Twenty-two-year-old Juma Awadh agrees: "I bargain second-hand apparel due to the fact that of prime and they look unique."

Even though Tanzania levies a 35% import taxation connected utilized clothes, Ilala is inactive overflowing with customers looking for inexpensive clothes. This bustling country is 1 the EAC erstwhile hoped would cease to exist.

In 2015, the then-six EAC members - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda - announced they would each spot highly precocious tariffs connected - and yet prohibition - the import of mitumba.

But the US, a large exporter of second-hand clothing, said specified moves would interruption escaped commercialized agreements and threatened to region the EAC countries from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).

This allows respective sub-Saharan African nations to export thousands of goods duty-free to the US.

Following the US ultimatum, each EAC members but Rwanda pulled their enactment for the ban. Rwanda stood firm, prompting the US to spot tariffs of 30% connected imports Rwandan clothing, wherever determination had antecedently been none.

Rwanda insists that the state has benefitted from hiking its second-hand covering taxes from $0.20 (£0.15) to $2.50 (£1.90) per kg successful 2016.

The commercialized ministry says that successful the 2 years earlier the increase, utilized apparel made up 26% to 32% of garment and textile imports. In the pursuing 2 years, this stock dropped to betwixt 2% and 7%, portion an summation successful garment exports suggests that the section manufacture is growing, the authorities say.

But determination inactive appears to beryllium a request for mitumba smuggled successful from its neighbours - the constabulary regularly station pictures of impounded bales connected societal media.

Environmentalists constituent retired that a ample stock of second-hand covering sent to processing countries is of specified debased prime that it ends up going consecutive to landfill. In 2023, the non-profit Changing Markets Foundation estimated that this was existent of much than 1 successful 3 items of utilized covering shipped to Kenya.

"There is nary infrastructure to dispose of these monolithic amounts of textile waste, and authoritative dump sites person been overflowing for years," biology organisation Greenpeace says.

But Teresia Wairimu Njenga, MCAK's chairperson, argues that mitumba sellers are successful information "the champions of preservation of our environment".

"Can you ideate what would hap to Kenya if we are manufacturing 198,000 tonnes [of caller clothes] per year?"

Yet second-hand covering imports crossed the satellite could soon look adjacent higher taxes. Signatories of the Basel Convention, a planetary discarded treaty, are presently deciding whether utilized garments - an expanding magnitude of which are made from integrative fibres - should besides beryllium classified arsenic waste.

Sceptics similar Joel Okalany, a Ugandan decorator whose marque Ekikumba Fusion upcycles utilized covering into connection pieces, argues that East Africa is not prepared for the extremity of mitumba.

"The world is, we are not yet acceptable for our ain manufacturing to instrumentality off," helium tells the BBC.

"In farming, the idiosyncratic who uses a tractor is much businesslike than the idiosyncratic who uses the horse. In the tailoring industry, we are inactive astatine the level wherever we are utilizing the horse."

Even the Rwandan authorities look to person travel to a akin decision - successful a study published successful 2022, the country's commercialized ministry said it was holding disconnected connected implementing a full prohibition connected utilized garments due to the fact that of "current home gaps successful the accumulation of textiles and apparels".

Rwanda's crackdown connected utilized covering provides different acquisition for its EAC neighbours - restricting mitumba imports volition person a constricted interaction connected the section covering manufacture if the influx of cheap, caller garments from countries specified arsenic China and Turkey is not controlled too.

As the proviso of mitumba dwindled successful Rwanda, galore customers started buying imported accelerated fashion.

In information crossed the portion mitumba traders and section covering manufacturers accidental inexpensive covering from China is the existent information arsenic it encroaches connected some their markets.

"They'll get thing that is simply a transcript from the runway oregon from a decorator marque and merchantability it astatine a ridiculous price," Kenyan decorator Zia Bett says – though she remains optimistic.

"We request to… absorption connected storytelling and contented and quality. I deliberation what the question should beryllium present is: 'How bash we physique brands that radical take - and not conscionable afford?'"

For Njenga, some second-hand covering and locally manufactured garments person their place.

"We should let them to coexist," the MCAK chairperson says. "Let's not termination mitumba - springiness the user powerfulness of choice."

Additional reporting by Alfred Lasteck successful Dar es Salaam and Wycliffe Muia successful Nairobi