ECONOMIC SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

Industry Enterprise Profile

Lesotho Has One of Sub-Saharan Africas Largest Textile & Clothing Industries

• Lesotho garment firms specialise in the production of denim garments (mainly jeans, but some chinos/corduroys), and garments made from cotton knit fabrics (t-shirts, polo shirts, tracksuits & fleece). It is estimated that Lesothos 41 apparel firms each year make 90 million knitted garments, 26 million jeans, and a growing range of other woven top and bottom garments.

• Supporting Lesothos garment industry is an independent commission garment screen printer, two commission embroidery firms, and a commission laundry. Some garment firms also have in-house capacities to undertake laundry, embroidery, screen-printing, and heat transfer processes. The Formosa denim mill (investment of over US$100million) uses African cotton to make a minimum of 6 300 tons of denim fabric a year, and about 10 800 tons of cotton (and cotton blend) yarns which is suitable to make knit fabrics.

A basic industry profile is as follows :

Industry Employment

Lesothos Textiles & Garment Industry Provides Significant Employment to Large

Numbers of Mainly Women Workers

• The industry remains Lesothos largest formal sector employer - even though employment has dipped below its 2004 peak. About 85% of industry employees are women.

• The contribution of the industry to Lesothos economy goes beyond the sector itself there are important employment and economic multipliers. A range of formal / informal sector activities occur that feed into/off the industry, e.g. a packaging industry; road freight transport; courier services; clearing & forwarding agents; security; passenger transport; traders that sell food to workers; residential accommodation; water, electrical & telecommunication utilities; etc.

The direct employment provided by the industry is vital. In Mar. 2007 the Government of Lesotho (GoL) employed 39 048 civil servants (Mar. 2004: 35 609); in Mar. 2007 the numbers of migrant Basotho employed in RSA mines stood at 53 877 (in Mar. 2004: 61 525). In July 2007 it was estimated that Lesothos footwear industry employed 2076 workers. Employment in other Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) assisted manufacturing enterprises amounted to about a further 2 000 workers (Mar. 2007). There are no other sizeable formal sector industries.