Chinese garment factory contributes to “Made in Rwanda” campaign

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The East African country of Rwanda is implementing a campaign to boost its own industries. It is courting foreign investors such as Chinese entrepreneurs to contribute to the initiative called “Made in Rwanda.”

Bonke Freddy Mubotanyi works at a garment factory in the capital Kigali. After more than two years of hard work, he is now a supervisor of the factory’s embroidery department, which consists of 40 workers.

Freddy is working on embroidery./ CGTN Photo

“I’m very proud of my work,” Freddy told CGTN. “ We used to have teachers from China. They taught us traditional Chinese embroidery, and we combine it with the African culture so that we can create good things.”

Embroidery pieces made by Rwandan workers./CGTN Photo

The garment factory that Freddy works at is founded by Chinese entrepreneur Ma Xiaomei, who has been living in Africa and running her garment business for 15 years.

“Rwanda hasn’t had any textile industry in the past, so establishing such a garment factory here was quite difficult,” Ma Xiaomei told CGTN. “Workers need a lot of training, which costs a lot. But the Rwandan government helped me cover 70 percent of the training costs, which made me determined to invest in the country four years ago.”

Ma Xiaomei at her garments factory in Kigali./CGTN photo

The reason for the Rwandan government’s strong support is due to the country’s determination to develop its own industries. The garment sector is a great starting point.

Like many other African countries, Rwanda used to be a large importer of secondhand clothing from the US. To change the situation, the country increased tariffs on such goods in March 2017 and called for a “Made in Rwanda” campaign.

Rwandan workers at the garments factory gather for morning meeting./ CGTN Photo

As a result, Ma Xiaomei’s garments factory has become a model for the textile industry. It now has 1500 workers, all of whom are local. They mainly produce uniforms.

“We used to have most of our orders from the US, but now as the campaign goes on, selling clothes to the US is not that profitable. So we started to look for domestic markets,” Ma says.

“We now receive orders from local schools and government bodies for uniforms; many people in Rwanda are wearing clothes made from our factory. We also have a collaboration project with the government to offer training to smaller garment workshops and buy them modern machines to make clothes.”

The garment factory now has 1,500 workers./ CGTN Photo

In the eyes of local workers like Freddy, Ma is a good boss who has given him a career.

“Thanks to this job, I can support my family, and have a better life than before. Ma often gives us advice at work so that we can pursue our dreams. For my future plan, I want to be a businessman, I want to invest in making garments. I really like it.”

Ma also has her plan. Another building is now under construction to enlarge the factory. Soon she’ll be able to provide 10,000 jobs to locals.