Rethabile Pitso
AHEAD of the expected renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Better Work Lesotho (BWL) has called on government to make social compliance mandatory in the manufacturing sector to ensure global competitiveness.
According to BWL Lead Enterprise Advisor Nthabeleng Molise, social compliance is among the integral factors that inform the eligibility criteria for AGOA and also one of the key factors international buyers consider when allocating their orders. She made the remarks during a workshop the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) held in conjunction with members of the private sector in Teyateyaneng on Tuesday to devise an “AGOA Response Strategy” following the renewal of AGOA for the next 10 years.
A bipartisan bill to renew AGOA, which gives duty and quota-free access to the United States market to eligible Sub-Saharan African countries including Lesotho, for another decade was introduced in Congress on 16 April 2015, quickly advancing out of the committee levels in both the House and Senate. The current version of AGOA is due to expire on 30 September with the AGOA Extension and Enhancement Act of 2015 awaiting approval by the full House and Senate, as well by US President Barack Obama.
Trade and Industry Minister, Joshua Setipa, who recently led a delegation lobbying for the legislation’s renewal in the US, said AGOA would be officially reintroduced “in the coming weeks”.
BWL is a partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which seeks to promote continuous improvement in labour conditions and help factories comply with national labour laws and international best practice.
It currently operates in Lesotho, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Indonesia, Haiti, Jordan and Bangladesh and partnered with such international buyers as Levi Strauss, Adidas Group, Esprit, Gap Inc., Inditex, Jones Apparel Group, Inc., Li & Fung, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. (NBAS), NIKE, Inc. Puma SE, PVH / Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, Target and The Children’s Place.
Ms Molise said BWL’s mandate was to ensure that manufacturers consider the social aspect of their businesses by giving priority to improved working conditions at their factories.
Said Ms Molise: “We engaged consultants in 2011, shortly after BWL was launched to do a baseline study, and again in 2013/14 to look at the impact.
“The research found that both workers and managers perceived BWL to have had a significant impact on compliance in a number of areas. In particular, workers report major improvements in health and safety, communication and relations as well as gender/household dynamics.”
She added that BWL was currently facing the challenge of the programme operating on a voluntary basis with only a few firms choosing to join or succumbing to join only at a later stage after learning of the benefits at the insistence of potential buyers.
“But if all factories operating in Lesotho could be incorporated into this programme, then our impact would be broadened thus putting Lesotho in a better position in terms of global competitiveness,” Ms Molise said. “We are currently operational in 16 factories only that mainly export to the US market.”
She also revealed that a strategy to ensure the BWL framework transitions into a nationally sustainable programme was being developed in consultation “with all key stakeholders to ensure the organisation continues to fully market Lesotho as an ethical sourcing destination”.