Maseru
Lesotho has lost nearly 16,000 jobs in its textile and apparel industry between March 2018 and March 2024. This alarming statistic was disclosed at a workshop convened by the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) to sensitize manufacturers and other industry stakeholders on the need to adhere to ethical practices to win back orders from international buyers.
Puseletso Makhakhe, LNDC’s Corporate Investment and Trade Promotion General Manager, highlighted the severe challenges facing the textile industry, leading to a significant reduction in the sector’s workforce and export markets, thereby negatively impacting the country’s GDP.
“Our employment trends show that in March 2018 we had 49,945 jobs in the textile sector, but by March 2024, this number had dropped to 34,150. The industry remains the second largest employer after the public sector. However, it has been experiencing a steady decline in recent years,” Ms. Makhakhe said.
She further detailed that between March 2023 and March 2024 alone, the industry saw a 12.79 percent decrease in employment, equating to a loss of 4,740 jobs. “Increasing lack of orders and uncertainty on orders remain the major causes of the decline in employment among other things,” she added.
Ms. Makhakhe noted the significant deterioration of competitiveness for Lesotho’s textile and clothing industry, caused by rising operational costs, supply chain disruptions, order declines, and financial strain partly due to delayed VAT refunds, among other factors. To address these challenges, the LNDC has engaged a textile expert for guidance.
At the workshop, Ms. Makhakhe emphasized the importance of the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) certification, required by international buyers who prefer to deal with manufacturers that comply with good social and industrial practices. Industry players, including manufacturers, trade unions, and other key stakeholders, attended the two-day workshop.
The WRAP certification is an international program promoting safe, lawful, humane, and ethical manufacturing worldwide, and is highly recognized by international buyers. Companies and factories in the textile and apparel industry were urged to comply with international standards, refrain from child labor, forced labor, harassment, and all forms of abuse and discrimination. They must also adhere to legal working hours, provide proper compensation and benefits, and comply with health and safety standards to achieve WRAP certification.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Business Development, Mokhethi Shelile, said the workshop was part of the government’s efforts to improve Lesotho’s competitiveness and reclaim its global market share through compliance with international export standards. “This occasion marks a milestone in our continuous efforts towards enhancing our competitiveness, positioning our nation as a beacon of industry standards and ethical business practices,” Mr. Shelile said.
He highlighted that ethical sourcing has become an important topic in the textile and apparel industry, promoting decent work conditions and sustainable manufacturing practices that exporters must comply with. “The government is aggressively undertaking measures to promote Lesotho as an ethical sourcing destination for international buyers, to trigger their attention and interest to source from Lesotho and to restore it to its former glory as a leading exporter under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA),” Mr. Shelile said.
Mark Jaeger, WRAP’s Senior Vice President for Stakeholder Engagement, explained that the workshop aimed to share information with Lesotho producers on how to access WRAP Certification for international buyers, especially from the United States. “WRAP is one of the wonderful certifications to show your buyers….Programs like WRAP can help you establish management systems and run your factory in a globally competitive way,” Mr. Jaeger said.
Sam Mokhele, Secretary General of Lesotho’s National Clothing Textile and Allied Workers Union (NACTWU), commended the workshop as a positive step towards promoting safe, lawful, humane, and ethical working conditions in the textile and apparel industry. “As workers, we are grateful and committed to playing our role to make the initiative a success. We are all aware of the huge decline in employment in the industry and I must say the lack of safety and ethical working conditions in the industry has contributed a lot to the current situation. If the challenge was addressed at an earlier stage, we wouldn’t be in this situation. We would have kept our market and saved a lot of jobs,” Mr. Mokhele said.
He added, “As unions, we have for a long time been against non-compliance in the industry and were perceived by the government and other stakeholders to be causing problems while we were merely trying to make sure the employers are compliant. But after this workshop, I hope we will be on the same page and tackle the challenge together.”
