Aid in Action
U.S. Buyers Look to Source Africa as an Emerging Brand for Quality African Apparel
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Photo: COMPETE
Buyers discuss potential orders with Rwandan firm UTEXRWA at the MAGIC apparel trade show.
Eighteen African firms exhibited clothing and accessories at the MAGIC apparel trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A as part of Source Africa Pavilion, a collaborative effort of the USAID Competitiveness and Trade Expansion Program (COMPETE) East and Central Africa Trade Hub, the Southern Africa Trade Hub, the West Africa Trade Hub, and Enterprise Mauritius. Source Africa Pavilion exhibitors came from Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya, Mauritius, Madagascar, South Africa and Cameroon. MAGIC (Men’s Apparel Guild in California), is the largest trade show of its kind in the United States. Held twice yearly, it hosts global buyers and sellers of apparel, footwear, accessories and sourcing resources.
One week after the show, deals are being finalized and the COMPETE ECA Trade Hub-sponsored exhibitors have exciting news. The show generated over 300 leads for the participating companies. Exclusive matchmaking sessions were arranged with high profile brands like American Eagle Outfitters, JC Penney, Coldwater Creek, Urban Outfitters, Orvis, and Abercrombie & Fitch. Kenyan company United Aryan Ltd. attracted the interest of several buyers with its ladies skinny jeans promotion, offering jeans at prices well below Chinese manufacturers. UTEXRWA from Rwanda has a deal with a major U.S. restaurant supplier to produce thousands of placemats. TSI Sportswear, one of the top ten licensees for U.S. collegiate sportswear, is placing a large order with Ethiopian firm Almeda for T-Shirts.
Photo: COMPETE
Matchmaking session underway between MAA Garment factory of Ethiopia and buyers from a U.S. company.
Africa is seen as an emerging source location and a viable alternative for buyers wishing to diversify or shift production from Asia. After several years of participating in this trade show, perseverance is paying off. Source Africa has become a serious brand name at MAGIC. Thousands of buyers attending the show were able to see what African firms had to offer.
The USAID COMPETE project works across East and Central Africa in collaboration with regional economic communities such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to reduce barriers to trade and to help African companies become more competitive in the regional and global marketplace. COMPETE’s overall goal is to increase the value and volume of trade from East and Central Africa by 30%. To gear up for this event, the COMPETE ECA Trade Hub engaged a textile expert to work with promising apparel manufacturers in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya to improve the technical aspects of production from uniform stitch length, to fabric dyeing, and fabric finishing meeting exacting standards for international orders.