Secondhand clothing imports dominate African markets.They accounted for half the fall in employment engaged in making apparel in Africa between 1981 and 2000.

African manufacturing is weak for many reasons, from clumsy privatisations to crumbling infrastructure.

The secondhand clothing industry dramatically helps close the loop on post-consumer textile waste, and provides many people around the world the only affordable access to quality apparel.

But cast-offs undercut Africa’s fledgling clothing industries. This is a trade that knits together charity and business, gift and profit. The share from China and South Korea is growing, but 70 per cent of used clothing flowing into Africa comes from Europe and North America.

In most rich countries the supply of used clothing far outstrips demand. Less than half of donations are sold locally. Most of the rest are sold to exporters.

In Africa, these motley bundles are a valuable commodity. Men’s clothes are pricier, since fewer arrive. American pieces are often too large and have to be resized by tailors. But still a person would rather buy second-hand from America instead of buying a new Chinese product. The complaint is that new Asian clothes damage easily and look like uniforms, without variety.

There is a suspicion high-quality, unworn clothes are smuggled into bales as a way for the rich world’s clothing industry to offload samples and unsold items.