THE extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to December 2028 is welcome news for this country and, more importantly, for thousands of Basotho whose livelihoods depend directly or indirectly on the textile and apparel industry.
After months of uncertainty over the future of Lesotho’s duty-free access to the United States market, the signing into law of the two-year extension on 2 September 2026 provides a much-needed measure of stability.
It is a development that deserves to be applauded, particularly at a time when the country’s manufacturing sector has been under considerable pressure from changing global trade conditions, tariffs, declining orders and uncertainty over the future of AGOA.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Business Development says the extension means exports of Lesotho-origin products, including textiles, apparel and fisheries products, can continue entering the US market duty-free until December 2028.
This is a reprieve for an industry that has for years served as one of the country’s most important sources of employment. After the government, the textile and apparel sector has been the country’s second-highest employer, providing livelihoods to over 40 000 Basotho and supporting a much larger network of households and businesses.
The recent difficulties at some factories demonstrate what is at stake. Workers at Precious Garments have complained about being placed on short-time, receiving only two weeks’ wages in a month and experiencing delays in accessing benefits. The company, for its part, has attributed the reduction in working hours to difficult trading conditions, fewer orders and pressures arising from US tariffs and international instability. These issues were also faced by other factories exporting to the US.
When factories reduce operations, the consequences extend far beyond the factory gates. A worker who receives only half a month’s wages has less money to feed a family, pay school fees, meet transport costs and support local businesses. When factories close altogether, the economic damage is multiplied.
The government is therefore right to welcome the AGOA extension as breathing space. It now has an opportunity to work with manufacturers, workers and investors to stabilise the industry and restore confidence.
But breathing space must not become an excuse for complacency. The extension gives Lesotho until the end of 2028. That may appear to be a considerable period, but it is not long enough for a country to continue relying on a single preferential market without preparing for the future.
For more than two decades, AGOA has been central to Lesotho’s textile industry. Duty-free access to the huge US market has helped attract investment and establish Lesotho as a significant apparel manufacturing base. The arrangement has created employment and generated export earnings.
But the uncertainty surrounding AGOA in recent years has exposed the vulnerability of this model. We must use the AGOA extension to strengthen the industry, not simply to postpone the next crisis.
The government’s stated intention to diversify export markets, including by looking towards Southern Africa and Europe, is therefore encouraging. Lesotho must pursue these opportunities aggressively.
The Southern African Customs Union provides a natural market for Basotho manufacturers, while the broader African market offers opportunities that remain largely untapped. The government should help local manufacturers identify new customers, improve production capacity and meet international standards required by different markets.
At the same time, the country must become more competitive. It is not enough to have access to a market if factories cannot produce competitively, reliably and at scale. Government must address the structural problems that continue to undermine manufacturers, including the cost of doing business, infrastructure constraints, transport costs, access to finance and the availability of industrial inputs.
The private sector also has responsibilities. The concerns raised by workers at Precious Garments and other factories cannot simply be dismissed as labour disputes. Employers have an obligation to communicate honestly with workers, comply with labour laws and treat employees with dignity. Workers, in turn, need viable companies capable of sustaining employment.
The Trade Ministry’s decision to demand better real-time information from the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) is particularly important. The government should not learn about major factory closures, short-time arrangements or mass layoffs only after workers take to the streets.
A proper early-warning system should be established so that government, the LNDC, employers and workers can identify problems before they become crises.
The AGOA extension should also trigger a serious conversation about value addition.
Lesotho should aspire to move beyond simply assembling garments for export. The Ministry has spoken about arrangements under which cotton could be imported from the US, processed into fabric in Lesotho and transformed into finished products such as jeans for export back to America. Such initiatives deserve serious consideration because they could create more jobs and increase the value retained within the country.
The extension should therefore be viewed as both a relief and a challenge. It is relief because it gives factories and workers greater certainty after a prolonged period of anxiety. It is a challenge because the clock is already ticking towards December 2028.
The government must use these two years to make Lesotho’s textile industry stronger, more diversified and less vulnerable to external shocks.
The workers, too, deserve a government that protects their interests while recognising the realities facing employers. Investors deserve certainty and a business environment in which they can plan beyond the next few months.
AGOA has given us another opportunity. We should celebrate it, but we should not squander it.
