Ethiopia: Garment Industry Lumbers Along
Asrat Seyoum/AllAfrica.com
The Ethiopian textile and garment industry in Ethiopia is one of those sectors that has not been given due attention. With respect to the market situation, domestic garment outputs were nowhere near qualitywise to compete with the imported fabrics. However, at present a number of new investors are entering the scene and considerable capital is being invested in the industry.
One such investment initiative in the sector is the WOW International factory built in the Akaki area. The aim of the factory is to produce garments for suits, casual dress, and sports wear mainly intended for export.
Ato Jemile Faris, assistant manager of WOW International, told The Reporter that before deciding to invest in the sector they had spent enough time selling imported products in the market. He added that they have ample experience about what the market needs in terms of both quality and price. Jemile also noted that before investing in a certain business a feasibility study assessing the intention of the government for the industry, the potential and background of the investor etc are essential for success.
Inspite of the shift to the garment industry, one cannot really say that the bottlenecks in the sector have been removed. According to the Textile and Garment Producers Association, the sector suffers from shortage of raw materials and the supply of accessories, problems affecting the production process and creating setbacks in area of marketing. Information gathered by the association from investors in the sector reveals that some raw materials in the industry like polyester and nylon are not produced locally so the users are forced to import them at very inflated prices.
The same is true for knitted fabrics and woven fabrics – the local production of which has not been able to satisfy the quality and quantity requirements of the industry. In addition, accessories for the garment industry such as zippers, labels or packing materials are not supplied domestically either. So, all these strategic inputs of the industry are imported from abroad and it is clear that the costs are very high. The association also noted that the expensive inputs and equipment used in the production of garments are putting pressure on the productive capacity of the plants and the industry in general. Shortage of skilled and trained manpower is also another factor which is hampering the production process.
With regard to marketing, lack of agents which represent local firms abroad and who find a sustainable market for the outputs, is a major setback. If producers themselves were to sell their output it would be costly to operate shops and warehouses outside the country.
Furthermore, problems related to transportation packaging and distribution of outputs are also issues that call for remedy. An adequate domestic transportation network that reaches all available local markets is lacking while finding enough containers to pack and ship the output by itself constitutes another set of problems.
Ato Jemil remarked that textile plants in the country should be able to provide the raw materials needed for garment factories so that there could be a linkage between the two. “I think the problem is that most of the textile factories also produce garments so that the materials they produce are consumed for their own use,” he said. Concerning trained human resources, Jemil said that the garment sector is highly labor-intensive and the profits of such industries depend very much on the productive capacity of labor. However, in order to have a productive labor force constant training and acquaintance with recent technological innovations was vital.
Ato Hailu Abebe, public relations officer of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, told The Reporter that all problems in the sector had been given consideration in the five-year master plan and when executed the textile and garment industry would benefit from the plan. He added that the shortage of skilled manpower in particular had been given due attention and that training for garment factory workers is being provided free by the Adey Ababa Textile Factory.
