Chinese garment firm forays into Rwanda, to provide 7,500 jobs to local people


Devdiscourse News Desk | Kigali | Updated: 13-05-2019 15:56 IST | Created: 13-05-2019 15:56 IST
Chinese garment firm forays into Rwanda, to provide 7,500 jobs to local people
The factory to be located in Kigali’s Special Economic zone will produce garments for both the domestic and export market. Image Credit: Pixabay
  • Country:
  • China
  • Rwanda

Rwanda Development Board has recently signed an agreement with a Chinese garment firm, Pink Mango C&D to establish a modern garment factory in the country’s capital, Kigali.

The factory to be located in Kigali’s Special Economic zone will produce garments for both the domestic and export market, the Rwandan government department said in a statement. Pink Mango C&D is likely to provide 7,500 jobs for Rwandans by the fifth year and create cumulative export earnings of USD 20 million over the next five years.

“Furthermore, Pink Mango C&D is expected to build capacity and skills transfer to 500 workers of local garment cooperatives who will also benefit from some of their supply contracts through an outsourcing model,” the statement reads.

The investment of the Chinese firm will upskill Rwandans, giving them access to productive jobs and hence ensuring them to have a better standard of living, RDB deputy Chief Executive Officer, Emmanuel Hategeka said in the statement.

The investment will not only enable the central African country to increase its exports but also reduce imports of clothing as the country has been using fiscal measures to progressively discourage the importation of second-hand clothes, said Hategeka.

The Rwandan government said in June last year that it maintained its stand that the country would stick to the decision to discourage imports of used clothes, in order to promote "Made in Rwanda" products, after the United States suspended duty-free status for Rwandan apparel products under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, Xinhua reported.

Maryse Gallagher, a business partner with Gordon Gu in Pink Mango C&D, also praised the country’s business environment and argued that with the incentives provided, their products will be competitive in the global market, The New Times noted.

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