Rwanda'S Ban On Second-Hand Clothing Is Worrying.

Francois Kaninba, Minister of trade and industry of Rwanda, recently issued a ban prohibiting Rwanda from importing second-hand clothing to protect Rwanda's local textile industry.

But for most Rwandan people, this decree is not pleasing.

Kaninba said that Rwanda is planning to set up a garment processing plant under a company called "Kigali clothing center" to reduce Rwanda's import of second-hand clothing, which will be completed in 2017 and will impose the ban.

In this regard, Rwanda businessmen who are engaged in second-hand clothing trade are worried and disappointed. Many people believe that if the ban is implemented, their business will collapse as a whole, because most of the businessmen in Rwanda clothing market are engaged in second-hand clothing trade, importing second-hand clothing from the United States, Europe and Asia to local people in Rwanda.

M Don Jerzy Mana, Rwanda businessman, said that in the past 17 years, I have been importing second-hand clothes from England and Dubai to Rwanda, and invested a lot of money in this business.

For example, Rwandans prefer second-hand clothes. If the ban is imposed, it will be a great blow to their business.

Secondhand garments from developed countries occupy almost the majority of town markets in Rwanda.

Habimana is a market seller in the capital city of Kigali.

The merchant, in her view, could not continue her business if the ban was implemented, and this business was the income that her whole family, including 5 children, had to live on.

"Our family has always been making a living by selling second-hand clothing," she said. "Our government should take measures to promote the development of our garment industry, and let us continue to import second-hand clothing for sale."

According to statistics from the Ministry of trade and industry of Rwanda, imports of clothing in Rwanda cost about $80 million in 2015, of which $15 million was spent on secondhand garments.

In order to reduce the huge cost, it is necessary to call on all parties to make joint efforts to promote the development of the local garment industry so as to meet the market demand of Rwanda and reduce the unemployment rate of local youth. This is in line with the state and the development policy of the East African community.

But it is not easy to change the habit of Rwandan local people for many years.

"I prefer second-hand clothes because they can wear longer and cheaper," says Mari, a resident of the city of Rwanda, Kigali. "New clothes are easy to break, and often are of the same style and color. If you go to public places, you will find many people wearing the same shirts as you do.

Yes, I don't like new clothes. I've been wearing second-hand clothes for so many years. "

There is no doubt that if the ban is formally implemented, tens of thousands of Rwandan traders will be affected by the second-hand clothing trade.