The government plans to allow textile firms operating in tax-friendly Export Processing Zones to sell up to 40 per cent of their products locally from the present 20 per cent, President Uhuru Kenyatta said yesterday.

The move is part of a strategy to promote growth of industry and create job opportunities for the growing unemployed youth, the president said during the Labour Day Celebrations. An estimated 800,000 fresh graduates are churned into the job markets every year from institutions of higher learning.

Kenya has since late 2015 been pushing for a phased ban on second-hand clothes, commonly called mitumbas, as part of the ‘Buy Kenyan, Build Kenya’ policy.

President Kenyatta on June 1, 2015, directed state ministries, departments and agencies to procure at least 40 per cent of supplies locally under the policy, but this is yet to be fully implemented.

The push by the government is also in line with the directive by the East African Community to member states to phase out importation of second-hand of clothes and leather products by 2019. This is aimed at promoting growth of domestic textile and apparel industry. The European Union and the United States are the largest source of second-hand clothes and shoe imports into the East Africa.

President Kenyatta yesterday appealed to dealers in the lucrative mitumba business to start sourcing the merchandise from the EPZ firms.

Industry and Trade CS Adan Mohamed in March said the ministry was enhancing partnerships with local textile and apparel industry in a bid to improve quality of locally-made clothes and leather products.

The partnership between the government and private sector is aimed at fast-tracking the ‘Buy Kenyan, Build Kenya’ initiative, he said.

“One of the most interesting and new developments that you will see is the implementation of the recent waiver of duties and taxes on the apparel, clothing and garments that will be captured in our Export Processing Zone entities that will now be sold in the Kenyan market without VAT and without duties,” Mohamed said on March 21.

The ministry partnered with textile and EPZ firms to successfully host a four-day clothing fair from March 29 at the KICC in Nairobi.

The exhibition, which was extended by a day due to demand, showcased “high fashion, top quality apparels” including trousers, shirts, jeans, jackets and undergarments.

Source: The Star

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