Innovative Textiles Company Meets International Standards

Carapparel Botswana, a 100% foreign-owned enterprise, is leading the way in Botswana’s textiles industry. The company manufactures golf tee-shirts, trousers and track suits which it exports to Europe, Canada and the US, taking advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Leading US auto enterprise Chrysler is one of Carapparel’s clients.

The company employs around 600 workers and operates a 5,000-sq-m production facility equipped with around 1,500 industrial sewing machines in Gaborone’s Broadhurst industrial park. Michael Lin, son of owner Sam Lin, points out, “Carapparel Botswana was founded in 2003, began operating in 2004, and has grown steadily ever since. The quality of our products has allowed us to enter the European and US markets competitively. With our machinery, our plant also has the capacity to produce menswear.”

Meeting the challenges

In addition to benefiting from AGOA, Carapparel Botswana was given a boost by a government-sponsored certificate which allowed for duty-free imports. Now this certificate is no longer available, creating new challenges for textiles companies. As Michael Lin points out, “With all the associated costs, it is hard to make a profit, and the duty-free imports provision made all the difference for us and for many start-up companies in Southern Africa. This support lowered our costs for water, power and transport, and government rebates gave us the funds we needed to hire the best possible human resources. We use a lot of people to make our products, and we need to use people who have skills. Now that the certificate is no longer available, our costs are higher.”

In spite of the challenges, Carapparel will continue to focus on high quality and innovation. As Shahid Ghafoor, President of the new Botswana Textile and Clothing Association (BTCA), points out, Carapparel Botswana is the country’s only textiles enterprise which has taken advantage of AGOA. The Botswana Trade and Investment Centre also ranks Carapparel favourably, noting that the company meets high international standards and is a 100% export-oriented enterprise. Carapparel serves as a benchmark in Botswana’s textiles industry.