Kenya spends $218.2 mn on mitumba imports in year to Mar 2024

09 Jul '24

1 min read

Kenya spends $218.2 mn on mitumba imports in year to Mar 2024

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Kenya spent $218.2 million on importing used clothes (mitumba) in the year to March—a 33.33-per cent rise YoY, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
The volume of used clothes shipments went up by 14.53 per cent YoY to 206,580 tonnes during the period.
This was a blow to President William Ruto's policy aimed at reducing such imports.

Kenya spent Sh. 27.82 billion ($218.2 million) on importing second-hand clothes (mitumba) in the year to March—a 33.33-per cent rise year on year (YoY), according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

This was a blow to President William Ruto’s policy aimed at reducing such imports and boosting the sale of local garments, a Kenyan media outlet reported.

Mitumba traders from China have also opened shops in Gikomba, Kenya’s largest informal market for such goods.

The volume of used clothes shipments went up by 14.53 per cent YoY to 206,580 tonnes in the year ended March 2024.

In May 2017, Kenya withdrew from a collective East African Community’s resolution to ban mitumba imports after US suppliers threatened to match it with retaliatory action.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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