A textile lobby has criticised the move by African Union heads of government for proposing measures that would see fabric manufacturers in the continent edged out of the global trade by Asian competitors.

During last week’s AU meeting in Accra, the heads of state called for all textile traders from the least developed countries (LDCs) to be accorded duty free and quota free access to foreign markets.

African countries already enjoy the preferential status in the lucrative American market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).

But the call by the AU leaders would see the same treatment extended to low cost producing countries of Asia, eroding the benefit Africa has in the market.

Yesterday, the chairman of African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation (Actif), Mr Jaswinder Bedi, said governments should concentrate more on addressing the threats facing the textile sector including dumping of uncustomed goods and appreciation of the shilling.

While the supply side of the sector was on the mend following failures of measures by the government to revive the cotton industry, Mr Bedi said the export sector had literally been left to fend for itself.

However, the three-band Common External Tariff (CET) under the East Africa Community (EAC) was adequate to protect the sector if only it was enforced and all traders forced to comply with it.

Under the CET, raw materials are zero-rated, yarn attracts 10 per cent duty while finished apparel is levied a 25 per cent surcharge. Machines for making apparel are zero-rated.

“If there is one serious challenge we face, it is standard enforcement and tariff compliance,” Mr Bedi said. Under AGOA the demand for sewing and production at the Kenyan Export Processing Zone, EPZ, has increased, leading to an increase in sales from $30 million to $253 million last year.

However, he said, the exports were still taking a beating from continuous appreciation of the Kenyan shilling against world major currencies, forcing some textile firms to contemplate relocation.

This would have implications on jobs for the labour intensive sector. When AGOA was established in 200I, the shilling was exchanging at Sh82 to the dollar against the present level of Sh66.50.

Figures from Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) indicate that in 2004, Kenyan EPZ’s 32 factories employed 32,000 people and earned $269 million in sales revenue. Due to strengthening of shilling, the number of factories reduced to 22 last year, employing 22,000 people with total sales earning of $253 million.