The inside of the giant warehouse on the outskirts of Maseru sounds like a giant beehive.
Hundreds of women are sitting in rows between chattering sewing machines, turning out jeans and sportswear. "A million of our jeans go for export every year, mostly to the United States," said Adrian Chang.
The manager of the CGM textile group is one of a band of entrepreneurs who have contributed to a veritable investment boom in recent years in the mountain kingdom that lies landlocked within South Africa.
The "sky kingdom" of Africa that was on the frontline during the apartheid era of racial discrimination and lived from the remittances of workers who left home to toil in South Africa's mines, earns its money with textiles. Jeans to be exact.
The mountainous little country with peaks that rise to 3,500m produces 25 million pairs of jeans a year. "In 1999 we had 19,000 people working in the textile industry, today we have 40,000 or more than twice as many," said Industry Minister Mpho Malie.
It's an upward trend. Currently being built in Lesotho is the largest jeans-weaving factory south of the Sahara desert, an investment project worth US$100 million. Other schemes are in the pipeline and the demand for building plots is strong.
"Taiwan is by far the biggest investor," said Malie but the People's Republic of China has been pumping a lot of investment money into Lesotho. The frequently low wages in such a labor-intensive sector are only one reason for this.
The key factor is the magic acronym AGOA. Its stands for Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, an American-Africa initiative designed to jump start economic growth.
In a country like Lesotho, where 45 percent of the working population is without a job, there has been a rapid rate of expansion since 1999. For AGOA permits 12 African states to export textiles to the US tariff-free for eight years.
Initially set at a maximum of 1.5 per cent of the US textile market, that quota has been upped to 3 percent. The African countries found it hard to live up to the benchmark, notching up 17 percent in the first year and 50 percent in the second, said minister Malie.
Trade union accusations that workers in the textile factories are being forced to work like slaves are dismissed as Malie as unfair and without foundation.
"A committee made up of workers, employers and government officials sets the minimum wages," he said. Apart from that, US inspectors have around-the-clock access to ensure that proper working practices and environmental standards are being adhered to.
He seemed a little uncomfortable when asked about what happens in six years' time when the AGOA runs out. After all, 90 per cent of exports are bound for the US Malie therefore puts his hopes in a possible free trade agreement with the US incorporating all the countries in the customs union of southern Africa.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS