Used Clothing Market In Africa

In 1997 texaid a swiss based association of charities that deal in secondhand garments studied the market for used clothing in ghana and concluded that it complemented rather than displaced.

Used clothing market in africa. The tuesday only aswani market which is about four miles from murtala muhammed international airport is one of the biggest hubs for fairly used clothing in the country. Then the bales are strapped under pressure and the straps are tightened and cut under high temperature with the strapping tool. Export of used clothing. We export to 14 countries in africa the middle east and the east.

In 2014 a handful of east african countries imported more than 300 million worth of secondhand clothing from the united states and other wealthy countries. But for many low income. The hubs for commercial sorting of preowned clothes are in south asia canada belgium the netherlands and hungary. Recent figures from the un show that an estimated 80 percent of africans wear secondhand clothing.

Secondhand clothes discarded at charity shops or thrift stores from overseas and then shipped thousands of miles to another continent is a lucrative business worth several million euros. The better graded used clothing is exported to central american countries and the lower graded clothing is shipped to africa and asia. The used items have created a robust market in east africa and thereby a decent amount of jobs. We also have a customer base for markets and shops in france.

Owino market in uganda is one of the largest markets in east africa where many locals shop for and sell second hand clothes. While exact continent wide figures are hard to come by global used clothing exports from oecd countries stood at 1 9 billion in 2009 according to 2011 un comtrade data. Relief for low income earners. Unsorted second hand clothes can be compressed into bales of 500 to 1000 kg.

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