Table 2: Year of Founding, Employment Size, Turnover, and Products by Firm
Firm
A
Year of
Founding
1968
Employment
Size
100
Turnover
(Kshs millions)
60
Type of Product
B
1987
120
100
T-shirts
C
1993
1000
n.a.
Various garments, depending on contract
D
1989
40
40
E
1997
2500
800
Various garments, depending on contract
F
n.a.
350
n.a.
Sweaters, socks
G
1977
200
70
Uniforms
H
n.a.
120
65
Uniforms, footwear, safety products
I
1950
100
160
J
1993
500
50
Various garments, depending on contract
K
1990
60
60
T-shirts
L
1972
700
320
T-shirts, embroidery services
Industrial and security apparel
Tents, canvas goods, uniforms
Fabrics, yarns, standard garments
Source: Enterprise level interviews 2002
4.2 Input Sources and Export Destinations
With the exception of firm B, which was operating entirely locally, the garment firms in the sample were
heavily involved in international trade to obtain important sources of raw materials and provide markets
for their products. The respondents reported that the firms source their inputs from both local and
international markets. Only two firms were obtaining their inputs from the local market, the other firms’
main input markets were international (see Table 3). The Far East appeared to be the most important
source of materials, but European and US markets were almost as important.
The firms in the study were targeting local, regional, and international markets, only one firm was selling
exclusively to the local market and the others were selling to regional and international markets. The
regional market comprises Uganda and Tanzania, Ethiopia, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo
and the Sudan. The main international markets were the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
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