Ministry Of Commerce: Rwanda Government Plans To Significantly Increase Local Textile Production

Rwanda's New Times reported on April 1 that Rwanda's Prime Minister Ngilent said that Rwanda's garment factories currently only provide clothing for 5% of the population, and the government of Rwanda is planning to significantly increase this number.

On March 28, Ngerendt, in his speech to members of the National Assembly, outlined the government's strategy of expanding industrial production and exports to achieve sustainable economic growth under the National Transformation Strategy (NST2), which will last from 2024/2025 to 2028/2029. Following the ban on second-hand clothing, the government is encouraging the private sector to invest in the textile industry. Ngilent stressed that there is a lack of sufficient local clothing production in Rwanda, and the government is committed to solving this gap, with the goal of making 100% of Lulu people wear locally made clothing. This initiative could help the country save 17 billion to 20 billion rupees. Ngerendt also emphasized the potential of the textile industry to create jobs, which is consistent with Lu's goal of creating 250000 jobs per year under the NST2 plan. At present, the textile and leather industry has shown a substantial growth, with the output increasing nearly five times from RUF 34 billion in 2017.

However, some legislators expressed concern about the challenges that the domestic textile industry continues to face. Despite the rapid development of the factory, the high production cost is still an obstacle. The high cost of raw materials makes local products more expensive. In this regard, Prime Minister Ngilent promised to expand fabric production, and a new project aimed at increasing local fabric production will be implemented "soon". In addition, the Ministry of Trade and Industry is making plans to provide batch orders to factories, which will help reduce costs.

(Source: website of Ministry of Commerce)