Kenya’s textile exports to US face stiff competition

The country’s exports to the US under the Agoa programmes dropped by 18.4 per cent, from Sh27.5 billion ($343.5 million) in 2008 to Sh22.4 billion ($280.4 million) last year.

Weak production

“It is time for Kenyan businesses to take advantage of other products that are eligible under Agoa, including tea, coffee and horticultural products instead of focusing only on textiles and apparel,” KAM chief executive Betty Maina said recently.

Figures updated by the US International Trade Commission (USITC) last month indicate that out of the 38 eligible African countries that export goods to the US under the programme, oil producing Nigeria and Angola alone accounted for 51 per cent of annual sales volumes last year.

South Africa, Congo, Chad and Gabon — which are either rich in minerals or oil — contributed 25 per cent of the annual exports meaning the remaining 32 countries contributed only 24 per cent of the Agoa exports for 2009.

The same fate hit Ghana which has established itself as a hub in exporting value-added products like chocolates, jewelry, baskets, and preserved pineapple.

“For value addition, Africa faces low quality standards, high energy and labour costs,” said Miriam Omolo, a researcher at the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Apart from the calls to make Agoa a permanent trade arrangement which also dominated the Nairobi forum last year, Kenyan exporters are hoping to be allowed to cooperate with neighbours in developing value chains to boost trade.

This, for instance, would mean that Kenya which has an advantage in textile manufacturing and weak cotton production is allowed to source raw materials from Uganda and Tanzania which have advantage in cotton growing.