Mitumba Dealers Push for Establishment of Sorting Centres

The Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya (MCAK) is pushing for the establishment of sorting centres in Kenya for mitumba clothes in an aim to increase employment opportunities for the youth.

According to Teresia Wairimu, MCAK Chairperson said that Kenya can use this opportunity to become the African hub for processing second hand clothes.

“The mitumba sector already employs two million people directly, therefore, having sorting facilities will create over 500 jobs in the related sector. ”

“Kenya is today the fourth largest apparel exporter in Africa, the sector contributes seven percent o the country’s net export earnings. The country is also the largest exporter of apparel under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, with about $600 million worth of export,” said Wairimu.

She also urged the government to reduce import taxes, duties, and VAT on mitumba wear to enable the growth of the Industry, especially after being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“What it would take is a policy change to allow it to happen. The link of promoting mitumba and sorting centres is that there is international money out there which can be harnessed to facilitate the growth of the sorting houses,” said Dr. Anuja Prashar, a consultant at the Mitumba Institute and Research Centre.

According to data from the State of Second-Hand Clothes and Footwear Trade in Kenya which is co-authored by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the value of mitumba imports in Kenya has grown by 80 per cent to Ksh.18 billion in six years between 2010 and 2019.

In 2019, the country imported an equivalent 8000 containers of second–hand clothing or 185,000 tonnes. The sector is estimated to contribute to revenues of up to Ksh.1 billion monthly for the government.

On April  21, 2022, the Mitumba Consortium unveiled a new study dubbed the Global Production Networks of the Second-Hand Clothing Industry which details the linkages between the domestic mitumba sector and the international markets.

The study covers three critical issues, including the global supply chain, dynamic of national production and supply in the textiles industry as a whole and implications for domestic policy and regulations.