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Kenya annually imports apparel worth 30 billion shillings ($272 million) due to high cost of domestic products, according to Lawrence Karanja, chief administrative secretary of the ministry of industrialisation, trade and enterprise development, who recently said that the country is importing over 70 per cent of its retail and fashion needs, both new and second hand.
"There is thus a need for local manufacturers and designers to find the right product and value match to meet the affordability element," Karanja said during a forum on Kenya's textile and apparel sector.
Karanja said that one of the challenges facing the domestic clothing sector is that the Kenyan market remains cost driven, due to the low economic status of most of the population. He noted that the government is keen to discuss with the domestic manufacturers to agree on policy support that will increase the competitiveness of the locally manufactured products, according to a news agency report.
"The aim is to increase the market penetration of locally produced textile and apparel products in both fashion retail mass market and the uniformed markets," he observed.
He stressed the need for manufacturers and designers to have more linkages with the physical and virtual retail spaces.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Kenya annually imports apparel worth $272 million due to high cost of domestic products, according to Lawrence Karanja, chief administrative secretary of the ministry of industrialisation, trade and enterprise development, who recently said that the country is importing over 70 per cent of its retail and fashion needs, both new and second hand.