Trump has the fate of thousands of workers in Kenya in his hands

In the heart of Africa, the fate of thousands of textile workers from the Wrangler and Levi’s jeans factory is hung on a thread: to the decision of President Donald Trump on the possible extension of the egoa expiring in September. The African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa), a 25 -year agreement, guarantees some African products access to the US market in exemption from duties. ‘Made in Africa’ jeans are made in a factory located on the outskirts of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, in compliance with a rigorous American tradition and the garments are intended for chains such as Walmart and JC Penny in the United States. The clothing exporter United Aryan owes its existence to the egoa, now at risk. The decision that President Trump will take will depend in general the sustenance of millions of Africans, including the thousands of United Aryan employees. Each year from the factory up to 8 million pairs of jeans, as well as millions of shirts and other items are sent to the United States. An average worker in charge of the assembly line earns the equivalent of about 190 euros per month. “We have 150,000 people who depend on us directly or indirectly,” says CEO Pankaj Bedi, underlining that his plant “stabilized the entire socio-economic situation of the region”.

The area was dangerous before United Aryan began production operations in 2002. “The gangs had stolen everything, even copper cables. Today our families are happyour children go to school, crime has decreased, “he testified Norah Nasimiyu, 48 years old, representative of the workers of the jeans. Every day thousands of people gather in front of the factory gates, in the hope of replacing the absent among the about 10,000 employees.

The factory has already had to face serious challenges: in 2005, the abolition of the quote regime that had regulated the textile trade for decades flooded the markets with Asian clothes. The 2008 financial crisis and Covid-19 pandemic then almost blocked it. Today the factory hangs on the answer to a question: will the United States renew the needle? Without the advantage of the duty-free, US buyers will surely turn to cheaper solutions in Asia, turning their backs to Africa. While Republicans and democrats seemed in favor to extend the agreements during the negotiations last year, their survival now seems threatened by Trump’s return to the White House, from its openly skeptical position on free trade and its hard line on duties.

The United States benefits from the cheapest labor in Africa, especially in the textile sector, sensitive to costs, according to Bedassa Tadesse, professor of economics at the University of Minnesota in Duluth. “But we have reached a point where commercial policy decisions are no longer based exclusively on the cost-benefit analysis,” he considers the teacher. However, there is hope: Trump could consider the needle as a means of counteracting Chinese influence in Africa. “This is a very important tool in the relationships between the United States and Africa, especially now that we have just lost practically all our soft power by dismantling the USAID”, highlights Witney Schneidman, a needle expert at the Brookings Institution Think Tank. But “it is a small change in the world view of Trump”, far from being a priority, according to him. Serrated negotiations are underway for United Aryan, within the Kenya Manufacturing Association. “In America we cannot produce what we produce,” underlines the CEO Pankaj Bedi. Time holds and the plant on the outskirts of Kenya and its customers must know the fate of the egoa by the end of Marchin order to plan the following season, otherwise the production lines will stop. The buyers started to panic, but “we assured them that everything would go well. We cross our fingers!”, Bedi concluded.