The falling retail demand for US produced apparel will give an advantage to Kenyan manufactured goods. Kenyan textile exporters are preparing to take advantage of a crumbling US textile sector which has recorded closures of 13 firms and 10,000 job losses in the last six months alone. Apparel producers in Kenya say the US economic slump has offered local garment manufacturers an opportunity to fill the gap left by the collapsed textile firms.

The cut-down on production in the US is good for Kenyan apparel manufacturers, it will create several opportunities, said Jonathan Chifalu, the Public Relations Officer at the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA), which promotes Industrial and Economic Development through investments in economic zones.

Most textile firms, which manufacture and export apparel duty-free, are set up under the EPZ.

 According to the EPZA, last year, 68% of the apparel manufactured in the industrial parks was sold in the US markets. Kenya exports clothes to the US under the African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA), which gives sub-Saharan African countries the right to export to the US market duty and quota-free.