The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) has cited the high import duty on vintage clothes as one of the many business-unfriendly rules and regulations in the country.
Victoria Joel, Vice-Chairperson of NCCI’s Ondangwa branch called for a review of duties currently levied on imported second hand clothes as part of measures to support entrepreneurs.
“Other contributions concern the high customs and excise duty set against the importation of vintage clothing. It is suggested that the government review the charge per kilogram and as a motivation, attention should be drawn to the fact that selling vintage clothing is the only income for many micro-enterprises,” she told a budget review consultative meeting attended by Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi and National Planning Commissioner Oberth Kandjoze.
This comes as Namibian entrepreneurs have turned to selling second hand clothes, to earn a living or supplement their incomes, usually sourced from suppliers from China, the United Kingdom and Angola.
According to media reports, Namibians imported secondhand clothes worth N$17,9 million between 2016 and 2020.
According to the reports, preliminary data from the Namibia Statistics Agency, shows N$2 million worth of these semi-old clothes were imported in the country between January and October of last year.
