Ethiopia and Kenya have succeeded in attracting the attention of investors by creating favourable conditions, and many major brands are beginning to source from these countries. The reason: rising wages in China, labour unrest and violence in Cambodia, and ineffective compliance with rules in Bangladesh, a new report from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence reveals.

Several major foreign companies have invested in the textile and clothing industry and a number of high profile brand names have started sourcing from Ethiopia. Brands including Marks & Spencer, VF Corporation, and the Inditex brand Zara are reportedly in the process of setting up offices in the country. This is reflected in the increase in the employment and export figures of the country as apparel industry employment in Ethiopia doubled while textile and apparel export earnings rose from $12.6 million to $111 million between 2010-11 and 2013-14.

In Kenya, as many as 46 apparel manufacturing industrial projects were approved in 2013. This was a record level and was more than double the annual average of 19 projects approved for the period 2009-12. In 2014, delegations from several large companies interested in sourcing from Kenya visited the country.