Country: Rwanda

In a bid to develop the country’s textile industry, the Rwandan government is mulling over striking a joint venture with Chinese enterprises for establishing a garment factory in Kigali, Rwanda. This move is an effort to both prohibit import of second-hand clothing and boost their textile industry. The Chinese enterprises have also offered to train the locals for producing garments.

Speaking to tailors in this regard in Kigali, Minister of Trade and Industry, Francois Kanimba, said, “The Kigali garment factory, valued at $1.3 million, is expected to open by the end of 2016.”

Also Read – C&H and Fair Trade Africa partner for Rwandan garment unit

With an investment of US $ 1.3 million, the Rwandan government is expected to create jobs and cut import of garments. Last year, imported clothes entailed a cost of US $100 million. Each year east African countries spend more than US $15 million in apparel imports.

The government is seeking to merge the country’s funds and skills of the Chinese enterprises in order to reduce the dependence on imported clothing.

According to the study conducted in Rwanda, it was found that tailoring opportunities are among the top economic platforms. Until now, Rwanda has two textile companies; one of them is run by Chinese firm C&H Garments. The Chinese-run company has invested in computerized sewing machines and will train around 400 workers.

In this regard, Claver Gatete, Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said, “Every year, we spend over $15 million to import second hand clothes. Wearing such clothes is not worth the price.”

Earlier in December 2015, the government was urgently looking for investors to scale up the country’s textile industry. The issue was pondered over during the 13th National Dialogue. During the dialogues, Senator Tito Rutaremara said, “Rwanda needs investors in the textile industry to provide quality clothes and more importantly create more jobs. Furthermore, he suggested “Copy and Transform” approach, since building new industries from the scratch would need huge investment in import of some equipment.”

According to the Rwanda Development Board statistics, Rwanda spent an average of US $57 million on textile imports annually between 2008 and 2012.

Less than a year after the China-based C&H Garments set up an apparel manufacturing unit in Rwanda, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between C&H, Rwanda Development Board and Fairtrade Africa. Under the MoU, C&H plans to establish a transparent sourcing plan and will ultimately source Fairtrade cotton fabrics made from certified cotton from across Africa. C&H will sell these ‘Made in Rwanda Fairly’ cotton t-shirts directly to top-end brands in USA and Europe, according to Fair Trade. Expected to significantly create job opportunities especially for women, the project, if successful, will serve as a ‘proof of concept’ that will bring further investment to Rwanda as has been the case in Ethiopia.