Kenyan Apparel Beyond AGOA
Kenyan Apparel Beyond AGOA
Kenyan Apparel Beyond AGOA
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<strong>Kenyan</strong> <strong>Apparel</strong> <strong>Beyond</strong><br />
<strong>AGOA</strong><br />
Tina Mangieri<br />
UNC Chapel Hill
Upan Wasana EPZ, Ruaraka, Nairobi Nairobi<br />
• <strong>Kenyan</strong> textiles &<br />
apparel overview<br />
•<strong>AGOA</strong><br />
• mitumba<br />
• refashioning apparel<br />
in Africa<br />
• future possibilities
<strong>Kenyan</strong> <strong>Apparel</strong> in Brief:<br />
• colonial-era production<br />
& consumption<br />
• post-independence<br />
strategies:<br />
–ISI<br />
–SAPs<br />
–EPZs/MUB<br />
kanzu & khanga, Mombasa
women’s trousers, Nairobi EPZ<br />
<strong>AGOA</strong>
sewing button-holes, Nairobi EPZ<br />
hourly line quotas, Nairobi EPZ<br />
<strong>AGOA</strong><br />
• US legislation - 2000<br />
• Duty-free access to US for 38<br />
African countries<br />
• Kenya is second-leading exporter<br />
under <strong>AGOA</strong> (after Lesotho)<br />
• <strong>Apparel</strong> - leading export for Kenya<br />
• Extended to 2015 in 2003<br />
• Post-MFA effect on EPZ firms and<br />
employment:<br />
12 factory closures - 22 remain open<br />
loss of approx. 20,000 jobs<br />
38,600-39,800 current employees<br />
• Barring an extension,<br />
3rd country fabric provision expires<br />
September 2007
EPZ factory floor - Ruaraka, Nairobi
• September 2006 -<br />
US Congress indefinitely<br />
postponed legislation revising<br />
<strong>AGOA</strong> - after intensive<br />
lobbying by US textile groups -<br />
extending current duty-free<br />
access provisions until 31<br />
September 2008.<br />
• A new rule of origin was then to<br />
have been applied from 1<br />
October 2008 allowing 50 per<br />
cent non-African content<br />
decreasing to 40 per cent by the<br />
end of 2015.<br />
<strong>AGOA</strong> - rules of origin<br />
Intertex twill (Hong Kong) - Nairobi EPZ
skirts, Kikomba market, Nairobi<br />
MITUMBA
Secondhand Clothing in Kenya<br />
Kenya is the 3rd largest importer of used clothing<br />
in sub-Saharan Africa (by weight), by per capita consumption, by estimated<br />
number of pieces, and by estimated workforce - after Tanzania and Ghana<br />
country Weight (Kg) Consumption<br />
per capita (kg)<br />
Estimated #<br />
of garments<br />
Estimated #<br />
of traders<br />
Tanzania 48,932,746 1.375 195,730,984 90,616**<br />
Ghana 41,270,997 2.064 165,083,988 76,428**<br />
Kenya 38,568,416 1.240 154,273,664 71,423**<br />
2003 data, UN Trade Statistics<br />
** UTGLWF estimates, 2003
Top 5 Exporters of<br />
Used Clothing to<br />
Kenya (by weight)*:<br />
1. UK<br />
2. Canada<br />
3. US<br />
4. Italy<br />
5. Germany<br />
Kikomba mitumba market, Nairobi * 2005, Kenya Revenue Services
Mitumba seller, Kikomba, Nairobi<br />
Estimated monthly wage<br />
of mitumba vendor:<br />
96.00 USD*<br />
Monthly minimum wage<br />
in export garment sector:<br />
63.51 USD**<br />
Sources:<br />
•2005, UTGLWF<br />
** 2005, Kenya EPZA
• Kenya after <strong>AGOA</strong>?<br />
• “Mitumbaisation” as<br />
discourse & practice<br />
• domestic narratives<br />
• “trading down”as<br />
prescriptive?<br />
• alternatives?<br />
Kikomba, Nairobi<br />
Kikomba, Nairobi
The <strong>Kenyan</strong> <strong>Apparel</strong><br />
Imaginary: Material &<br />
Discursive Practices -<br />
• Asia (esp. Arabian<br />
Peninsula & China/SE<br />
Asia)<br />
• Consumption landscapes<br />
• Somali investment<br />
• mobilities<br />
Eastleigh, Nairobi<br />
Bangkok Shopping Mall, Eastleigh
Buibui/Abaya<br />
• Curiousity Boutique, Mombasa, Kenya (left)<br />
• Bur Juman Shopping Centre, Dubai (right)
Swahili khanga<br />
• Mali ya Abdulla, Biashara Street, Mombasa (left)<br />
• Souq al Muttrah, Muscat, Oman (right)
• regionalizations<br />
rescripted<br />
(COMESA, EAC,<br />
GoK policy “looking<br />
East”)<br />
• South-South<br />
reimagining<br />
• geopolitical & politicaleconomic<br />
• returning attention to<br />
domestic market
Dissertation research funded by:<br />
• Fulbright<br />
• National Science Foundation<br />
DDRI Grant (BCS-0503687)<br />
• PEO Fellowship<br />
• UNC REACH Fellowship<br />
• UNC Graduate School<br />
clothing boutique, Mombasa
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