The Rise of Mitumba: How Kenya Became Africa’s Largest Importer of Second-Hand Clothing
Author: Sanlian Life Weekly
Published: September 23, 2023 · Estimated Reading Time: 14 Minutes
According to global data analytics platform Statista, the global second-hand clothing market is projected to reach a value of $84 billion by 2030. In present-day Kenya, the importation of used clothing from the Global North provides a livelihood for two million people and supports a vast industry that generates significant tax revenue. At the same time, the hundreds of millions of second-hand garments dumped into the country each year pose a severe environmental threat, highlighting Kenya’s precarious position within neoliberal globalization — caught between economic dependence and the environmental and developmental challenges facing the African continent.
Written by: Aisha
Edited by: Xu Jingjing
“One Bundle of Second-Hand Clothes, Four People Benefit!”
A busy day at Gikomba Market begins before dawn. As the first light breaks, trucks loaded with goods arrive at the market, while traders from across Kenya travel overnight by bus to the capital, eager to dive into the bustling crowd. As the shipping containers are opened, wholesalers toss out bundles of “Mitumba” onto the ground for traders to inspect and purchase on the spot.
In Swahili, “Mitumba” means “a bundle” — originally referring to plastic-wrapped donations of used clothes from wealthier countries. Today, the term has expanded to include second-hand clothing, household goods, and shoes.
Gikomba Market is the largest second-hand clothing hub in Kenya and East Africa. Job Gichobih, a 27-year-old Kenyan, is a key player in this market. With over 4,900 friends on social media, he proudly calls himself “East and Central Africa’s largest and most trusted Mitumba trader.” Speaking to me over the phone, Job shared that he started in the business in 2015. Sometimes, he sources directly from trade companies in China, Canada, and the UK, while at other times, he buys from other importers. On average, he handles 3 to 4 shipping containers per month, each containing 200 to 300 bundles of Mitumba. If the clothing quality is good, a single container can bring him a profit of 200,000 to 300,000 Kenyan shillings (approximately 10,100 to 15,150 RMB / $1,350 to $2,000 USD).
One of Job’s downstream buyers is Mwass Masudi, a 24-year-old from rural central Kenya, who was introduced to the second-hand clothing trade by Job. Lacking the financial resources to import goods himself, Mwass works as a broker in the market.
Every morning at 5:30 AM, Mwass arrives at Gikomba. By 6:00 AM, he has already figured out which shipping containers hold newly arrived stock. During the day, he scouts for customers, leading them to the wholesalers he knows, and earns a markup on the wholesale price. Each bundle of Mitumba earns him 500 to 1,000 Kenyan shillings (approximately 25 to 50 RMB / $3 to $6 USD). Once a trader purchases a bundle, they unwrap it on-site, inspect the clothing’s quality and category, and pick out the best pieces for resale in their shops.
On Facebook, in a second-hand clothing traders’ group with over 100,000 members, I came across Benard Mutua, a retail trader. Back in the summer of 2014, while still in high school, Benard bought his first bundle of Mitumba to pay for his tuition. By 2017, he had rented a small shop in Nairobi’s CBD, where he displayed men’s t-shirts, women’s dresses, pants, and plush toys. Today, he employs three workers and sells at least 10 bundles of clothing per day, making a profit of 20,000 Kenyan shillings (about 1,010 RMB / $135 USD). “That’s the same as a Kenyan police officer’s monthly salary,” he proudly remarked.
After being unpacked at Gikomba, second-hand clothing makes its way to markets and shops all over Kenya. One such destination is Toi Market, Nairobi’s second-largest open-air market, located next to Kibera, Africa’s largest urban slum. However, it’s not just Kibera’s residents who shop there — many middle-class Nairobians also frequent the market. In Nairobi’s formal shopping malls, a brand-name sports shorts can cost 6,000 to 7,000 Kenyan shillings (approximately 300 to 350 RMB / $40 to $50 USD). But at a Toi Market second-hand stall, a similar pair sells for just 350 shillings (about 18 RMB / $2.50 USD). Shopping here feels like a treasure hunt — each piece is one of a kind, and some items look as good as new.
“One bundle of second-hand clothes benefits four groups: the importer, me, the retailer, and the buyer,” Mwass said with enthusiasm as he spoke about his trade. He firmly believes in the “get-rich-through-second-hand-clothing” narrative. “I know someone who started as a middleman, and now he owns a car, a house, his own shop, and even shipping containers to run his own import business. If you have the brains for it, you can create wealth from nothing.”
A quick search for “Mitumba” on any search engine brings up results like “How to start a Mitumba business” and “How I switched to the second-hand clothing trade.” This indicates a huge interest among Kenyans, as many are eager to break into the industry. Benard mentioned that on the very morning of our conversation, three people had already asked him for advice on selling Mitumba — a conversation that happens almost daily.
According to data from the United Nations Comtrade Database (UN Comtrade), Kenya is one of the largest importers of second-hand clothing in sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2005 and 2021, the country’s second-hand clothing imports increased fivefold, from $27 million (approximately 200 million RMB) to $172 million (about 1.254 billion RMB). In 2021 alone, over 900 million pieces of second-hand clothing entered the Kenyan market — an average of 17 garments per person.
A report from Kenya’s Bureau of Statistics further reveals that in 2021, the second-hand clothing industry employed approximately 2 million people — about one-tenth of the country’s total workforce. This number includes not just the traders handling the clothes directly, but also workers in ports, transportation, insurance, tailoring, cleaning services, and recycling. Additionally, the industry contributed 15.85 billion Kenyan shillings (approximately 793 million RMB / $108 million USD) in tax revenue to the Kenyan government.
The Other Side of the Coin
Despite being a highly influential industry, the second-hand clothing trade has become a subject of controversy in recent years. Ahead of Kenya’s 2022 general election, opposition presidential candidate Raila Odinga declared at a campaign rally that second-hand clothes were “clothes worn by dead people” and claimed that Mitumba was suppressing all local industries. Rumors quickly spread online that if Odinga were elected, he would ban the “dirty Mitumba business” in an effort to improve the country’s image.
Odinga’s remarks were swiftly met with backlash. Both the media and political figures warned that banning second-hand clothing would amount to “economic suicide.” Odinga later clarified his stance, insisting that he never intended to ban second-hand clothing. Instead, his true goal was to revive the textile industry by building a full supply chain — from cotton farming and spinning to garment manufacturing — so that local traders could prioritize selling Kenyan-made clothing.
From a historical economic perspective, the textile industry has often been the first step in a country’s industrialization. Many nations have initially developed through labor-intensive textile production, accumulating capital and resources before transitioning to more technology- and capital-intensive industries. This pattern has been evident across various industrialized economies, from Britain, the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, to the Four Asian Tigers and mainland China.
Kenya’s current administration has proposed the “20by30” vision, which aims to expand the manufacturing sector’s contribution to GDP from the current 7.2% to 20% by 2030, positioning the country as a global competitor alongside China, India, and South Korea. However, these ambitions face harsh economic realities. According to Apparel Resources, a textile industry news platform, Kenya has 170 medium-to-large-scale garment factories and 74,000 small businesses, all of which are struggling due to the widespread preference for second-hand clothing.
In 2008, Garth Frazer, an economics professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough, developed an economic model demonstrating that between 1981 and 2000, second-hand clothing imports were responsible for 39% of the decline in Africa’s textile production and a 50% drop in employment within the sector.
Historically, Kenya once boasted East Africa’s largest textile and garment manufacturing industry. After gaining independence in 1963, Kenya implemented an Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) policy, treating the textile sector as a core pillar of manufacturing. During this period, the government imposed a 100% tariff on imported goods, effectively banning imports altogether.
Jacob Omolo, a senior lecturer in applied economics at Kenyatta University, recalled his experience during this era. Between 1979 and 1984, while still in secondary school, he was often sent to his parents’ cotton fields after class to help with harvesting and bookkeeping. At the time, Kenya’s cotton farmers, ginneries, and textile manufacturers were all connected through a government-run cooperative system. The government supplied the cotton seeds, agricultural officers taught farmers cultivation techniques, and state-owned spinning mills processed the cotton before officially purchasing the final products.
Under government leadership, the number of textile factories in Kenya surged from just 6 in 1963 to 52 by 1983. The 1980s marked the golden age of Kenya’s textile industry, with textile workers making up 30% of the manufacturing workforce, supporting 200,000 families.
Even back then, second-hand clothing existed — but it was illegal. Omolo, who hails from Homa Bay County in western Kenya, grew up along the shores of Lake Victoria, which serves as a natural border between Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Ferries frequently traversed the lake, transporting passengers and goods between these nations. As a child, Omolo often heard stories of smuggled second-hand clothing.
“Sometimes, people would say that a boat had docked along the shore, loaded with second-hand clothes,” he recalled. “But because of the import ban, we all knew it would be extremely difficult to get those clothes onto the market.”
Following two oil crises in the 1970s, global economic growth slowed, and Kenya was no exception. The situation worsened when a severe drought triggered a food crisis between 1983 and 1984. In a bid to secure international aid, Kenya began signing structural adjustment loans with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the 1980s. These agreements came with strict conditions, requiring Kenya to implement government reforms, trade liberalization, market-driven interest rates, and an export-oriented industrial policy.
According to Jacob Omolo, as liberalization reforms advanced, Kenya started restructuring its government framework in 1986, leading to downsizing in the agricultural sector. This resulted in poor management of cotton farming.
“The government stopped providing high-quality cotton seeds, production costs soared, but purchase prices kept dropping. Farmers had to sell their cotton at low prices and wait long periods to get paid, while middlemen squeezed their profits. Gradually, people lost interest in growing cotton,” Omolo explained.
With the collapse of the traditional production cooperative system, Kenya struggled to supply enough locally grown cotton for its textile industry. The country had to rely on imports, further burdened by high energy prices and costly road transport. These factors drove up the prices of locally manufactured clothing. Meanwhile, starting in the 1990s, labor-intensive industries — such as garment manufacturing — shifted massively from developed countries to China, where low-cost “Made in China” exports intensified global competition.
Kenya’s economy suffered consecutive years of negative growth. By 1993, the country’s per capita GDP had dropped to just $270, a 32% decrease from the previous year. Facing economic distress, Kenya fully embraced trade liberalization, abandoning import substitution and protectionist policies. This opened the floodgates for large-scale imports of cheap, high-quality second-hand clothing.
A study led by Dorothy McCormick, a professor of development studies at the University of Nairobi, examined barriers to the growth of Kenyan small and medium-sized textile enterprises (SMEs). By 1997, declining household incomes and the overwhelming presence of second-hand clothing had significantly weakened consumer demand for new clothing. As a result, textile SMEs struggled to maintain profitability and lacked capital for further investment.
In Omolo’s hometown, the once-thriving ginneries were abandoned, their machinery rusted and broken. Kenya’s once prominent East African wax print industry, nurtured during the import substitution era, completely collapsed under global economic pressures.
In 2004, the Kenyan government, manufacturers, and designers launched a patriotic fashion movement, promoting the slogan “Buy Kenyan, Wear Kenyan”. They even organized a national costume competition, but the initiative failed due to Kenya’s diverse ethnic groups, making it impossible to select a single representative national attire. Some media outlets sarcastically remarked, “Kenya does have a national costume, and it’s called Mitumba.”
The AGOA Era and Its Consequences
Today, Kenya’s textile industry is largely confined to Export Processing Zones (EPZs). In 2000, the U.S. introduced the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), granting duty-free access to the American market for over 7,000 products from eligible African nations. This spurred Kenya and other African countries to establish numerous EPZs.
According to Kenya’s Ministry of Industry and Enterprise Development, Kenyan apparel exports to the U.S. surged nearly 40-fold in the first 15 years of AGOA. To attract foreign investment, Kenya introduced generous tax exemptions, prompting Chinese and Indian investors to set up factories in Kenya to gain access to the U.S. market. By 2023, Kenya had maintained an average annual export of $420 million (approximately ¥3.06 billion) worth of garments to the U.S. for five consecutive years.
However, Kenya’s AGOA-driven textile industry came at a high cost. Reports indicate that EPZs depend heavily on government funding, yet their limited capacity and scale have failed to offset Kenya’s lost path to industrialization. Moreover, duty-free policies under AGOA have resulted in substantial revenue losses from foregone export tariffs.
AGOA: A Backdoor for U.S. Second-Hand Clothing
Ironically, AGOA also paved the way for the continued influx of second-hand clothing from the U.S..
According to Ma Boyang, a PhD candidate in socio-anthropology at Duke University who studies global second-hand clothing trade networks, the East African Community (EAC) — comprising Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda — had jointly announced in 2015 that they would impose high tariffs on U.S. second-hand clothing starting in 2019. However, the Trump administration swiftly retaliated, threatening to expel the EAC countries from AGOA on the grounds that their decision violated free trade principles.
Faced with AGOA’s economic leverage, only Rwanda stood its ground, accepting a 30% tariff increase on its exports to the U.S. as a trade-off. Meanwhile, Kenya and other EAC nations backed down, continuing to import second-hand clothing from the U.S.
A Dilemma for Kenya’s Economy
As a labor economist, Omolo acknowledges the economic value of second-hand clothing, particularly in job creation and circulation of goods. However, he also points out a major drawback:
“Mitumba cannot generate foreign exchange for Kenya. If our industrial sector fails to thrive, our foreign currency will simply flow out of the country.”
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) argues that a well-developed “cotton-to-fashion” value chain could employ 10% of the country’s population, significantly reducing youth unemployment, which exceeded 13% in 2022. Additionally, a robust textile and apparel sector would create more employment opportunities for women.
The End of the Chain
In today’s world, a massive second-hand clothing industry has formed, spanning from developed countries to Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. In 2021, China overtook all other nations to become the world’s largest exporter of second-hand clothing, accounting for 17% of the global supply.
Wang Jincheng, a native of Qufu, Shandong, began his career in waste recycling in Beijing. In 2008, a friend introduced him to the second-hand clothing trade, and he has been in the business ever since. Speaking over the phone, Wang explained that his exported second-hand clothing mainly comes from waste collection stations and is shipped to Southeast Asia and Africa — with Thailand serving as the distribution hub for Southeast Asia and Kenya for Africa.
According to Wang, the supply chain for second-hand clothing follows a structured four-step process:
➡ Waste collectors → Recycling stations → Sorting factories → Export factories
“As long as you have a solid understanding of the products and the industry, there’s room for profit at every stage,” Wang said. Ten years ago, a single 28-ton shipping container of second-hand clothing could yield a profit of 150,000 yuan (~$20,000). His success in the trade enabled him to buy a house and car, and he later established factories in Shandong and Zhejiang.
At sorting factories in China, the U.S., and the U.K., used clothing is meticulously categorized, compressed into rectangular bales wrapped in plastic film, and shipped overseas. These “Mitumba” bales embark on a two-to-three-month journey across the ocean, passing through Mombasa Port on the Indian Ocean before being trucked to Gikomba Market in Nairobi.
Each Mitumba bale contains a slip of A4 paper listing the type of clothing, quality grade, total weight, exporter’s company name, and country of origin — serving as a guide for local merchants when making purchases.
Wang explained that second-hand clothing exports fall into two categories:
1️⃣ “Single-item pricing” — A shipping container carries only one type of clothing (e.g., men’s jeans, women’s dresses). These are typically exported to higher-income markets such as Southeast Asia and Ghana.
2️⃣ “Mixed assortments” — A container includes a mix of high-, mid-, and low-value garments. These are shipped to lower-income markets, such as Kenya and Nigeria, where consumers prioritize affordability. “You get what you pay for,” Wang emphasized.
A Game of Luck for Local Sellers
For traders like Mwas and Bernard, they never know exactly what they are getting until they open a Mitumba bale — a process that feels like scratching a lottery ticket.
In July, Mwas sold two Mitumba bales of men’s trench coats, only to face an angry customer.
“The exporter had placed a black trench coat on the front and back of the package, but inside, there were 120 red coats! Kenyans don’t like wearing the same clothes as others, so the customer felt the batch would be impossible to sell,” Mwas explained.
When customers are unhappy with a Mitumba purchase, Mwas must refund half the money — about 8,000 Kenyan shillings (400 RMB/$55 USD), effectively taking a loss. Meanwhile, the customer must find a way to offload the unwanted clothing, often selling it at deep discounts.
As a retailer, Bernard’s first task after opening a Mitumba bale is to sort the clothing:
- Out of 300 T-shirts in a bale, only 50 might be high-quality, selling for 500 Kenyan shillings (25 RMB/$3.50 USD) each.
- Around 150 are lower-quality and priced slightly cheaper.
- The remaining 100 are damaged or stained, forcing Bernard to sell them at extremely low prices or discard them altogether.
“When I first started, I could sell 80% of the clothing in a bale. Now, I have to throw away nearly half,” Bernard lamented. As a result, more and more traders are avoiding bulk purchases and instead selecting individual pieces at the market to minimize losses.
Mountains of Unwanted Clothes
This process generates huge amounts of unsellable clothing, known locally as “Fagia”. These discarded garments pile up in markets, clog drainage ditches, and even end up in rivers.
When Bernard first arrived in Gikomba Market in 2014, he was struck by the towering “mountains” of textile waste surrounding the area.
“Everywhere you look, people are burning old clothes, sending plumes of toxic smoke into the air. If you get too close, your eyes start watering,” Bernard said.
The fires, set to dispose of excess clothing, burn dangerously close to market stalls and food vendors, creating hazardous and unsanitary conditions.
Years ago, a cholera outbreak swept through Gikomba Market, highlighting the health risks posed by textile waste pollution. Concerned for his safety, Bernard got vaccinated against cholera — a precaution many other traders have now started considering as well.
A 2023 investigative report and documentary titled “Trashion”, jointly released by the environmental organization Clean-up Kenya and the Netherlands-based Changing Markets Foundation, reveals why second-hand clothing is often discarded. The reasons include:
- Seasonal mismatches
- Wrong sizes (too large or too small)
- Damage (rips, stains, animal hair, vomit, or even blood)
- Unwanted uniforms from corporations or institutions
In Gikomba Market, there is a dedicated area for processing discarded clothing known as Jogoo Road. Here, vendors purchase waste clothing at 30 Kenyan shillings per kilogram (1.5 RMB/$0.20 USD), cut it into shreds, and resell it as industrial waste for 100 shillings per kilogram (5 RMB/$0.65 USD). These shredded fabrics are then repurposed into cleaning tools, fuel, tire fillers, and other materials.
Overflowing Landfills and Unmanageable Waste
Bernard, a second-hand clothing retailer, has observed that the Kenyan government periodically clears the “mountains” of textile waste near Gikomba Market. However, the rate at which new waste is generated far exceeds the speed of disposal.
The government once informed him that the Dandora landfill — one of Nairobi’s largest dumpsites for used clothing — was already full and that they were struggling to find new locations for waste disposal. Officials urged traders to “be patient” while they sought solutions.
The “Trashion” investigative team documented shocking scenes at Kenyan landfill sites:
- At Kawangware landfill in Nairobi’s western district, discarded fabrics are deeply embedded in the red soil.
- By September 2022, despite being officially declared “full,” the Dandora landfill was still receiving over 4,000 tons of waste per day. Heavy machinery worked atop towering 10-meter-high (33-foot) garbage heaps, struggling to manage the influx.
Fast Fashion: A Major Culprit?
The Clean-up Kenya report directly blames the fast fashion industry, particularly for its reliance on synthetic fibers — often called “plastic clothing”. These synthetic materials, derived from petroleum, now make up 69% of the global textile industry.
The report estimates that Kenya imports up to 300 million second-hand garments annually, many of which contain plastic fibers. Eventually, most of these garments end up in landfills.
Synthetic fabrics are notoriously difficult to decompose:
- Nylon takes 30–40 years to break down
- Polyester fibers take over a century
- Synthetic leather can take 500 years
When submerged in water, these materials release microfibers and microplastics. These particles seep into soil and water systems, ultimately entering the food chain of both animals and humans. Research indicates that 35% of all microplastics in the world’s oceans come from synthetic fibers in textiles.
Proposed Solutions and Political Resistance
The “Trashion” report suggests that the second-hand clothing trade should focus on “extending the life cycle of garments”, rather than exporting unusable clothes to developing countries. Proposed measures include:
1️⃣ Pre-sorting second-hand clothing before export to remove unsellable items.
2️⃣ Imposing a “plastic tax” on synthetic fiber garments.
3️⃣ Enhancing worker benefits in the textile industry.
4️⃣ Promoting the use of recyclable materials and reducing synthetic fiber production.
However, these measures may not be realistically feasible.
Industry expert Ma Boyang argues that adding extra sorting processes would drive up costs, which goes against the core reason people buy second-hand clothing — affordability. Additionally, under the current global trade system, African nations lack the power to influence regulations in exporting countries.
Furthermore, many political elites in Africa have profited enormously from the international second-hand clothing trade. As a result, when bans on Mitumba (used clothing imports) are discussed, they often reflect internal power struggles among political elites rather than genuine environmental concerns.
The Debate Over Kenya’s Second-Hand Clothing Industry
Shortly after the Clean-up Kenya report was released, the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya (MCAK) issued a statement defending the second-hand clothing industry.
MCAK ignored the environmental criticisms and instead emphasized the economic importance of second-hand clothing imports, arguing that the trade provides jobs for thousands of Kenyans. MCAK describes itself as an organization that represents second-hand clothing traders and works with the government to promote industry regulations and legislation.
However, Betterman Simdi, the founder of Clean-up Kenya, dismissed MCAK’s claims in a phone interview.
“The consortium represents second-hand clothing importers who make huge profits from large-scale imports every year,” Simdi said. “But they do not represent the interests of small-scale traders.”
The Reality for Small Traders
For retail traders like Bernard, his only power lies in deciding whether or not to buy a Mitumba bale.
Born into a poor family in Nairobi, Bernard has spent nine years in the second-hand clothing trade. The income from Mitumba sales has allowed him to pay for his and his younger siblings’ education.
Meanwhile, Mwas, a middleman from Muranga County in central Kenya, also found his way into the industry due to financial struggles. After high school, he couldn’t afford university tuition and instead studied tourism management at a vocational college.
His dream is to save enough money to become an independent importer.
- The cost of importing a full shipping container of second-hand clothing is around 2.5 million Kenyan shillings (125,000 RMB/$17,000 USD).
- Since entering the business in 2020, Mwas has managed to save 30% of this amount.
- He hopes to save the remaining funds within the next two to three years.
However, if his plan does not work out, he has a backup option — moving to Qatar to work in a hotel.
DoDoBird Insight: The Latest Developments in Kenya’s Second-Hand Clothing Market (2023–2025)
Over the past two years, Kenya’s second-hand clothing market has undergone significant transformations, reinforcing its position as Africa’s largest importer of used apparel. From shifting import patterns to policy changes and evolving consumer preferences, the market continues to expand while facing new challenges and opportunities.
Surging Import Volumes and Market Growth
Kenya’s second-hand clothing imports have surged dramatically, reaching $298 million in 2023, surpassing Nigeria to become Africa’s largest importer. The momentum continued into 2024, with first-quarter imports from China increasing by 86.2%, signaling a growing dependence on second-hand clothing. Meanwhile, the broader African second-hand clothing market reached $70.58 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.16%.
Beyond traditional apparel, Kenya’s import portfolio has diversified to include industrial rags, curtains, and other textile waste, forming a more comprehensive ecosystem for textile reuse. While China remains the dominant supplier, accounting for 68% of imports, the United States and the United Kingdom have expanded their exports to Kenya through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), further reinforcing the country’s central role in global second-hand fashion trade.
Economic Impact: Job Creation vs. Domestic Industry Struggles
The second-hand clothing industry plays a vital role in Kenya’s economy. It generates thousands of jobs across the supply chain — from importers and wholesalers to market vendors and local recyclers. Additionally, the sector contributes over 12 billion Kenyan shillings in annual taxes, making it a crucial revenue source for the government.
However, this growth comes at a cost. The local textile industry remains under pressure, with small and medium-sized manufacturers struggling to compete with the affordability and variety of imported second-hand clothing. The government’s “20by30” industrial revitalization plan, aimed at reviving domestic textile production through incentives like lower electricity tariffs and trade agreements, faces an uphill battle as second-hand clothing still dominates over 90% of the market.
Policy and Environmental Challenges
Recent international discussions have raised concerns over the environmental impact of second-hand clothing exports. Countries like France, Denmark, and Sweden have proposed stricter regulations on exports to developing nations, fearing that low-quality textiles ultimately become waste in recipient countries. These proposed measures could reshape Kenya’s import landscape by forcing stricter pre-export sorting requirements or introducing environmental taxes on textile waste.
Domestically, Kenya has taken steps to adjust its policies. The 2024 Tax Law Amendment Act eliminated Import Declaration Fees (IDF) and Railway Development Levy (RDL), effectively lowering import costs and potentially fueling further growth in second-hand clothing imports. While this move benefits traders and consumers, local textile manufacturers remain opposed, calling for stronger protections against foreign competition.
Evolving Consumer Preferences and Sustainability Trends
Kenyan consumers are becoming more conscious of sustainability and circular economy principles, which could further support the second-hand clothing market. The shift toward ethical fashion and waste reduction aligns with global movements advocating for extended product lifecycles. The demand for better-quality second-hand apparel is growing, leading retailers to source selectively rather than relying on bulk “Mitumba” bales of mixed-quality items.
A Call for Industry Dialogue and Collaboration
As Kenya’s second-hand clothing market continues to evolve, engagement and knowledge-sharing among industry players are more critical than ever. At DoDoBird, we believe in fostering open discussions with wholesalers, retailers, and market leaders to navigate the future of this industry. We invite local traders, importers, and business owners to share their perspectives:
- How are recent policy changes affecting your business?
- What trends are you seeing in consumer preferences and purchasing behavior?
- How can we collectively address sustainability concerns while ensuring industry growth?
By exchanging insights, we can shape a more sustainable and profitable future for Kenya’s second-hand clothing market. DoDoBird remains committed to supporting industry players in adapting to these changes and seizing new opportunities in the years ahead.
Join the conversation and let’s build the future of the second-hand clothing industry together!
- #SecondHandClothing（二手服装）
- #MitumbaTrade（Mitumba贸易）
- #KenyaFashionMarket（肯尼亚时尚市场）
- #UsedClothingExport（二手服装出口）
- #AfricaTextileIndustry（非洲纺织行业）
- #ThriftBusiness（二手服装生意）
- #SustainableFashion（可持续时尚）
- #FastFashionWaste（快时尚污染）
- #KenyaEconomy（肯尼亚经济）
- #GlobalTextileTrade（全球纺织贸易）
- #UsedClothingWholesale（二手服装批发）
- #KenyaImports（肯尼亚进口市场）
- #TextileRecycling（纺织品回收）
评论
发表评论