Maseru, Lesotho
Shining Century
Jennifer Chen, Managing Director of Shining Century’s factory in Lesotho, is setting her sights on competing with China. Shining Century employs 1,500 people and makes garments for Old Navy, GAP and other well-known brands. Lesotho was considered a tremendous AGOA success story, but in January 2005, WTO released China from quotas, putting at risk all Africa’s recent gains from AGOA. Jennifer says if she can increase production and government can cut costs, they can compete. And she knows the competition. Like most factory owners and directors in Lesotho, Jennifer is Taiwanese. She came to the tiny Southern African nation in 1989 and intends to stay for the long haul.
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Trading With Africa: Ports Ahoy!
By Rosalind McClymont
For decades, Africa's officials and private-sector leaders have clamored for "trade, not aid." Increased trade through unfettered access to markets in the United States and other wealthy nations would accelerate the continent's industrial growth and lead to more prosperous economies, the argument goes. Aid money comes with political and economic exigencies, and in the long run tends to benefit the aid giver's commercial interests more than the recipient's. Loans are just as bad. Loan agreements requiring borrowing countries to, say, slash spending for health and education, privatize public assets, deregulate the economy and allow multinational companies to compete with local firms have led to all sorts of social upheaval — not to mention the repayment burden when the value of the dollar and the euro goes up.
For more information on "Africa: Open For Business" and the DVD, visit www.africaopenforbusiness.com
08: Image & Investment: South Africa Speaks
04: IFC Doing Business Report 2007