Kenya is set to maintain the lowest import duty on second-hand clothes in East Africa, further solidifying its position as the continent’s leading importer of mitumba.
The latest gazette notice by the East African Community (EAC) shows that Kenya has sought to retain its import duty on second-hand clothes, locally known as mitumba, at 35 percent or $0.20 (Sh25.86) per kilogramme, whichever is higher, for the next one year.
The EAC Common External Tariff (CET) is set at 35 percent or $0.40 (Sh51.72) per kilogramme, whichever is higher, for used clothing and footwear, as the bloc seeks to protect the region's textile industry. The standard CET rate for finished products is 25 percent.
The other EAC member states are Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Somalia.
Kenya’s relatively lower duty rate has made it a magnet for second-hand clothing imports, with industry observers attributing the country’s dominance in the trade to this low tariff.
According to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Kenya imported 53,886.5 tonnes of second-hand clothing, valued at Sh6.48 billion, in the first three months of 2025. This was an increase from the 48,335.6 tonnes, worth Sh6.42 billion, imported during the same period in 2024.
Further data compiled by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that Kenya imported used clothes and textiles worth Sh38.5 billion ($298 million) in 2023, overtaking Nigeria — whose population is four-and-a-half times larger — to become Africa’s largest importer of mitumba.
The 2023 imports represented a 12.45 percent increase from Sh34.28 billion ($265 million) in 2022, underscoring rising demand for cheap garments as shiploads of used clothing continued to enter the Kenyan market.
Mitumba traders import a wide variety of used apparel, including dresses, shirts, trousers, jackets and shoes. Other second-hand textiles — such as bedding, towels, curtains, fabric scraps and industrial rags — also find their way into the country.
Millions of Africans continue to buy second-hand clothes because they offer affordability, quality, and variety that local textile producers often struggle to match.
In Kenya, for example, it is estimated that over 90 percent of households purchase mitumba, driven by the high cost of living and shrinking disposable incomes.
Consumers say that these imports — sourced mainly from Europe, North America, and China — give them access to well-maintained, branded garments at a fraction of the retail cost of new ones, making mitumba a lifeline for low- and middle-income earners.
Still, African governments are working to revive their once-thriving textile and apparel sectors. Many have increased import duties on second-hand clothes in order to protect local industries and create jobs.
In 2016, Rwanda took the boldest step yet by imposing steep tariffs and restrictions on second-hand imports, in line with an EAC decision to phase out used clothing imports by 2019. Rwanda increased tariffs on imported used clothes from $0.20 to $2.50 per kilogramme.
However, this prompted a backlash from the United States, which suspended Rwanda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), a trade deal that gives African countries duty-free access to the US market.
Consequently, countries like Kenya and Uganda abandoned the plan, opting for a more cautious, phased approach to managing second-hand imports — balancing industrial ambitions with economic and political realities.
The Kenyan government has been blowing hot and cold on the issue of mitumba.
In 2023, the then Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Moses Kuria, said that the country should “prepare for higher taxes on ‘mitumba’” in what he said was aimed at reviving Kenya’s “ailing cotton industry.”
However, his successor Lee Kinyanjui, has been more cautious.
“Today if you make a pronouncement that you want to ban mitumba in Kenya, you know that is a huge political statement,” said Mr Kinyanjui in April.
He emphasised that efforts to protect the textile industry by limiting second-hand clothing imports would be far more complex than simple policymaking.
