Investment Needs To Be Cautious: Why Does Ethiopia Become The World's Lowest Garment Factory Worker Income Country?

A newly released report says workers in Ethiopia garment factories are the lowest in the world, earning only 26 dollars a month, and their wages are less than half the 95 dollars of low-income workers in Bangladesh. Most of these workers work for Guess, H&M and Calvin Klein and other world-renowned fashion brands.

Ethiopia is the more than 2 largest country in Africa. 105 million of the population still relies heavily on agriculture, with a life expectancy of 66 years. The country faces severe drought and poverty. In 1991, the Ethiopia people's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which came to power through the armed struggle, has been briefly occupied by Italy fascists during the Second World War.

The report is released by the Stern business and human rights center of New York University. It is called "made in Ethiopia: challenges facing the new frontiers of the clothing industry". Researchers in the southern capital of the country about 25 thousand workers in the important Park Hawassa research, the number of employees is expected to increase to 60 thousand people.

The report points out that the government of Ethiopia has been trying to find a leading manufacturing center in the African continent and has thrown a lot of labor intentions to foreign investors. Suppliers such as China, India and Sri Lanka have already set up factories in their main parks, but their labor remuneration is less than half of the known low incomes in Bangladesh. Even increasing allowances can not guarantee workers' basic living needs. Employees are becoming dissatisfied with rewards and working conditions, and more and more people are protesting by stopping work or resign.

The report shows that on average, all factory workers are changed every 12 months, most of them are young women, with less training and low efficiency of garment factories.

"The Ethiopia government, global brands and foreign manufacturers all want to promote the creation of the" Ethiopia made brand ", but they do not expect the basic wage to be too small for workers," the report said. Ethiopia has no minimum wage for the private sector (private sector).

The monthly salary level of garment factories ranks among the 14 selected countries from top to bottom: Turkey, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Kenya, Kampuchea, Vietnam, Lesotho, Laos, Bangladesh, Burma and Ethiopia.

In fact, the salary level of $26 a month refers to the lowest entry salary paid by the government, such as floor sweeper, and clothing factory workers are initially attracted to this condition, which can be regarded as a means. Ethiopia's population is second only to Kenya in Africa, but Kenya counterparts earn 207 dollars a month. The report shows that Chinese garment factory workers earn 326 dollars a month. Another 2013 government survey found that 52% of employees in the country earn less than $35 a month.

The government hopes that the country's clothing exports will increase from US $145 million to US $30 billion per year. This figure has been criticized as "impractical". The fact is that low wages and lack of training lead to low productivity, accompanied by regular strikes and high wastage rates.

According to the report, in addition to the unsustainable low wages, another challenge for the clothing industry in the country is that raw materials are almost dependent on imports, about 148 thousand acres of land are used for planting cotton, and the rest for cash crops. Most of the fabric in Hawassa park is outside Ethiopia.

Similar to Bangladesh, Bangladesh's clothing components are imported because of its inability to develop its own supply chain, so its factories are mostly limited to tailoring and sewing. By comparison, the Chinese garment factories have shifted from simple T-shirts and trousers production to more complex, diversified and high value production, similar industries with automobiles and electronic equipment.

As for whether Ethiopia should learn from China or Bangladesh, the researchers of the report did not give the answer, but urged the government to establish the minimum wage standard as soon as possible, and to train the Labor Committee to voice the workers.