Purchase for Africa: An appeal for American apparel buys

This is a noble thing but I doubt its going to work. First of all, people hardly buy materials such as clothes out loyalty to some cause. Most of us dont even look at badge that tells us where the product is made before we buy. They will buy it because its of a good quality and reputable brand. Proudly SA is another example of the failed initiative that was aimed at creating awareness and loyalty of locally produced goods.

More than $300 million is alot of money and I think its about time GOL force these chinese firm to have Basotho partnership.

I suspect chinese products garment labels are going to be printed 'Made In Lesotho' thats if they are not already doing that.

Thabo Lesholu wrote:

This is a noble thing but I doubt its going to work. First of all, people hardly buy materials such as clothes out loyalty to some cause. Most of us dont even look at badge that tells us where the product is made before we buy. They will buy it because its of a good quality and reputable brand. Proudly SA is another example of the failed initiative that was aimed at creating awareness and loyalty of locally produced goods.
More than $300 million is alot of money and I think its about time GOL force these chinese firm to have Basotho partnership.
I suspect chinese products garment labels are going to be printed 'Made In Lesotho' thats if they are not already doing that.

Thabo hle this is positive news. Even if people do not necessarily look for a made in.... label, this issue is definitely raising such awareness. Maybe something good will come out of this.

Ntsoekhe

Charmer Boy wrote:

Ntsoekhe

Oooe ekaba ke se ke entseng Charmer?

Thabo Lesholu wrote:

This is a noble thing but I doubt its going to work. First of all, people hardly buy materials such as clothes out loyalty to some cause. Most of us dont even look at badge that tells us where the product is made before we buy. They will buy it because its of a good quality and reputable brand. Proudly SA is another example of the failed initiative that was aimed at creating awareness and loyalty of locally produced goods.
More than $300 million is alot of money and I think its about time GOL force these chinese firm to have Basotho partnership.
I suspect chinese products garment labels are going to be printed 'Made In Lesotho' thats if they are not already doing that.

Check Woolies clothes, they are mostly written made in Lesotho!!! They are already doing it, ba eketseditse China ya bona ka hara naha ya Moshweshwe..... I do check the labels when I buy, which is why I don't buy those Brands tsa maFora le maTaliana....

Ntsoekhe wrote:

<quoted text>Thabo hle this is positive news. Even if people do not necessarily look for a made in.... label, this issue is definitely raising such awareness. Maybe something good will come out of this.

Ntsoekhe, I didnt mean to sound negative but I wanted to highlight the fact that consumers rarely buy products out of loyalty to some cause.

The other point I was trying to make was that Basotho should taking ownership of AGOA products otherwise they might as well be produced in China. Our products must compete on quality and we should not expect the world to buy Lesotho products out of sympathy.

Thabo Lesholu wrote:

<quoted text>Ntsoekhe, I didnt mean to sound negative but I wanted to highlight the fact that consumers rarely buy products out of loyalty to some cause.
The other point I was trying to make was that Basotho should taking ownership of AGOA products otherwise they might as well be produced in China. Our products must compete on quality and we should not expect the world to buy Lesotho products out of sympathy.

Thabo,
The American impoters like Gap, Levis and Walmart are very serious about conscious buying. For instance, they started boycotting Bangladesh produce because of child labour prevalent there until that country complied.

Mhhh,ke sa nahana

Thabos, this is interesting but one begins to wonder how much of that money has an impact on the economy of Lesotho besides job provision.

You could not have said it any better than your suggestion of partnerships with Basotho.

Whenever there is talk about Chinese business involvement in Lesotho, i always think about what financial regulations are in place. I happened to work in a bank, where i used to see the guys transfer huge amounts of monies into forien accounts. As far as i could pick, the bank was charging its levies but i am not sure whether and how the government was affected in this regard.

At first glance, I got excited, but I also wish the consumers could be aware of the injustices at the factory level. It is not about employment as a figure (rate), but the type of employment that comes with human dignity! We all know that these apparel factories are in Lesotho (and other developing places) just to exploit vulnerable labor and maximize profits. So to me, the movement would just exacerbate the unequal relationship!

Made in (insert 3rd world country here)... so what...in a sweatshop owned by a corporation from a rich country...this does not help the country develop, it is just a continuation of colonialism, they are taking the CHEAP RESOURCE, in this case LABOR from the country.

The global sweatshop economy is NOT set up to help the under-developed nations develop. It is set up for the maximum PROFIT of the already-rich.