C&H Garments which has set up a Rwandan garment manufacturing unit recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rwanda Development Board and Fairtrade Africa.
In collaboration with Fairtrade, C&H plans to establish a transparent sourcing plan and will ultimately source Fairtrade cotton fabrics made from certified cotton from across Africa.
“C&H plan to sell their ‘Made in Rwanda Fairly’ cotton t-shirts directly to top-end brands in USA and Europe,” Fairtrade Africa said in a statement.
In the interim, Fairtrade Africa made important introductions for C&H to Max Havelaar France who has begun exploring links with buyers in France.
C&H is striving through Fairtrade Standards to pioneer the concept of ‘Made in Rwanda Fairly’ which is expected to significantly create job opportunities especially for women.
James Mwai, director of programmes at Fairtrade Africa said, “Today marks a milestone in Fairtrade Africa support to the growth of an integrated cotton supply chain in Africa.”
“By collaborating with a textile manufacturer, we are expanding the Fairtrade footprint into textile processing thus enabling us pilot the textile standard and position Fairtrade in this fast growing industry," he added.
Earlier in July 2014, the Rwandan Government and C&H Garments had signed a MoU to start the process of creating a garments manufacturing industry that will have a job creation and export impact.
Under the 2014 MoU, C&H Garments was expected to invest in equipment in a Rwanda training base and to employ at least 200 workers at start-up.
This in turn was expected to spur the process of creating a garments manufacturing sector that would have significant job creation and export impact for Rwanda.
If successful, this investment will serve as a ‘proof of concept’ that will bring further investment to Rwanda as has been the case in Ethiopia.
