Invasion of sub-standard clothes is threatening the Zimbabwean garment industry. While production firms like David Whitehead Textiles has shutdown, those like Julie Whyte have scaled down its operations.
Amid the ongoing anarchic situation in the country, Zimbabwean entrepreneurs who are being able to bring in clothing from Dubai, Zambia, Mozambique and China are getting rich quickly.
For example, a shirt available in Zambia at a price of K15000 or three US dollars is sold in Zimbabwe at a price of US$ 10, which means there is a profit margin of seven US dollars per shirt.
Several clothing dealers in Zimbabwe are also fetching clothes from Mozambique via Forbes border post in Mutare. Although most of these are second-hand clothes, they are quite popular with Zimbabweans, as they lack the ability to purchase new ones.
Bulk importers who ship in sub-standard goods in bulk from markets like Mozambique manage to offer their goods at a much lower price than new domestically made goods.
As the Zimbabweans try to support themselves in present-day economic climate, invasion of sub-standard goods is likely to continue, causing the domestic industry to suffer.
This may lead to a situation where the people would have no other option but to settle for such inferior, used goods, and situation may compel the domestic firms to close.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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