Lesotho: Impact of MFA termination

The termination of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) on 1 January 2005 has had a devastating impact on the fragile, emerging, textile economies of many African countries. In Lesotho, for example, in the period between January and June 2005 at least 10 textile factories shut down, leaving over 13,000 people jobless, a huge figure for that small country of some 2.2 million inhabitants (and where the textile industry employed some 54,000 people before the ending of the MFA). Daniel Maraisane, the General Secretary of the Lesotho Clothing and Allied Workers' Union (LECAWU), has been leading the trade union struggle for over 20 years. He discusses the impact of the ending of quotas on Lesotho's workers and gives some insights into the role of trade unions in Africa.