Zimbabwe's textile industry is finding it difficult to compete with imported or smuggled garments from neighboring countries like Mozambique. Moreover, cheap clothes also come into the country duty free. These clothes cost about four times less than locally made products. Big retail companies have started ordering merchandise from as far as China as locally produced clothes are expensive. In the face of this onslaught almost 80 per cent of local textile companies have shut down.

Most companies are struggling to survive and have either closed down, scaled back operations or are under judicial management. The companies are pushed to the brink by an influx of cheap products, declining domestic demand and resurgent production costs.

Zimbabwe does have high duty tariffs, surtaxes on importation and also some kind of excise regime to protect the local textile industry. But laws are not always properly enforced, leading to corruption, which is a big problem. Local textile manufacturers are complaining that the government is not doing much to curb smuggling of these clothes into the country.

Trade unions say millions of dollars are being spent on importing clothing products that could be procured from local producers. This would save jobs.