(Views expressed in this article are the personal opinion of the author.)

The weakening exports of Europe amid the ongoing financial crisis, clothing and textile companies in Mauritius are looking to South Africa to recoup sales. The South African market is rising which is benefiting directly local textile operators, says a leading Mauritius garment exporter. This family-owned company, which employs 1,600 workers, is now exporting 45% of its total production to South Africa. Today, it manufactures 15m pieces annually.

The [southern] African market has the added advantage of being tax-free for our exports as Mauritius is an active member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). We also enjoy a lead time which is rather short given our proximity to the market (four hours by flight to Johannesburg), added Parkar, whose group last year declared a turnover of MUR900m (US$28.6m).

Mauritius is already ranked as South Africa's second-largest supplier of exported textile products after the European Union. Latest figures reveal that the value of the Indian Ocean island's exports to South Africa have increased from MUR3.5bn (US$112.2m) in 2010 to MUR4.6bn (US$ 147m) in 2011 and MUR6.2bn (US$ 198.8m) in 2012. Only in one year, local textile units have increased to the tune of MUR1.6bn their total exports to South Africa, noted Danielle Wong, the Mauritius Export Association's long-standing and outgoing director.

The South African market is to be considered seriously and positively by local entrepreneurs as Europe is undergoing an economic slowdown which is impacting negatively on our textile exports. Our exporters should take advantage of this market by increasing their visibility, said the garment exporter.

Fewer Seasonal Fluctuations

Jean-Baptiste de Sp�ville, CEO of Mauritius Floreal Knitwear Ltd. (FKL), a subsidiary of Ciel Textile Ltd. (whose major shareholder is the Dalais family, a well-established commercial dynasty), said South Africa has long been a focus of his company. Saying FKL has been exporting to this market for some years now, he explained: The South African market gives us the opportunity to export during the post-winter season. It's more or less a seasonal market for the group, allowing our enterprises to run at total capacity even when Europe is in winter. Ciel Textile, a vertically integrated textile and clothing group with 17 units operating in Mauritius, Madagascar, Bangladesh, and India, today exports 20% of its production to South African buyers.

De Spéville thinks this figure will certainly rise in the future. However, he is convinced that South Africa will never be in a position to substitute Europe even in the medium or long-term. Europe will always be our biggest market as far as textile exports are concerned, he insisted. And some industry figures reveal that South Africa, itself a (richer) emerging market, is not a sure bet, with a resource-heavy economy whose wealth is strongly influenced by global commodity markets. The South African Rand in particular is prone to fall against major international currencies, offering slimmer pickings to exporters. But despite this, some companies have already ignored Europe. Mauritius Palmar Group, based in the north of the island, has for years exported all its production to South Africa, giving it a head start in a growing market.


This article was originally published in the Stitch Times magazine, June, 2013 issue.