Browsing by Subject "clothing"

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    The Competitive Dynamics of the Clothing Industry in Madagascar in the post-MFA Environment
    (2006) Morris, Mike; Sedowski, Leanne
    The last few years have witnessed two major shifts in global trading and industrialisation patterns. The first is the rise of China (with the South East Asian region in tow) as the dominant force reshaping the competitive dynamics between developing and developed countries as well as within the developing world itself. The second is exemplified in the rapid rise of a clothing industry sector, with a concomitant impact on wage employment, in some sub-Saharan African countries (amongst which Madagascar has been prominent), as a direct result of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) of 2000. However, the end of the Multifibre Arrangement and the massive impact of China on the global dispersion of clothing production have threatened to substantially disrupt these processes. Despite the plethora of warnings, there is very little empirical analysis of the real changes taking place as a result of the changed global environment. Based on international trade data and field research undertaken in Madagascar, this article aims to analyze the clothing industry's current dynamics in Madagascar, given the impact of AGOA and the end of apparel quotas. The first section situates the clothing industry in Madagascar within the changing global environment. The second section provides an analysis of the competitiveness dynamics and global linkages operating in Madagascar based on primary research through firm level interviews undertaken in Madagascar in 2005. The article concludes by assessing the policy implications in the post-MFA world.
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    Report on Government Responses to New post-MFA realities in Lesotho
    (2006) Morris, Mike; Sedowski, Leanne
    Since 2000, Lesotho along with Kenya, Madagascar and Swaziland, has seen year-toyear doubling of clothing exports to the United States under the AGOA program. These SSA countries have experienced tremendous growth in the clothing industry mainly because of AGOA duty-free benefits, but also due to advantageous exchange rates with the US dollar. However, on 31 December 2004, the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA), the quota system that restricted Chinese exports to developed countries ended, freeing China and other large producers from binding quotas. Dire predictions were made about the end of the clothing industry in SSA, which accounted for 3% of global garment exports in 2004. The winners would be China, Vietnam, and Cambodia, where global garment production would concentrate. Indeed, eight factories in Lesotho have closed, leaving 5,800 unemployed. Their closure has been attributed to a lack of orders as retailers source their garments elsewhere and to the appreciation of the Rand against the dollar. With layoffs at other factories, the total number of jobs lost is 10,700. The objectives of this study are to investigate and analyse policy and other responses of the Lesotho government to the liberalisation of the clothing and textile industry, with a focus on the end of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement. Included should be an examination of whether the utilisation of preferential measures (AGOA, ‘Everything but Arms’, Cotonou) will have any ameliorating effects.” The primary focus therefore of the paper is addressing the policy issue of what can be done to assist the firms remaining in Lesotho. This project investigates what the government in Lesotho has done in the build up to the end of the MFA as well as what strategies are available to the government to cement the industry in Lesotho for the future. In order to do this we conducted a number of interviews with firms, stakeholders and government officials in Lesotho.