Ethiopia’s Bonda Market Surge, Powered by Social Media, Jeopardizes Local Textile Industry

As second-hand ‘Bonda’ clothing takes over the streets and social media of Addis, local textile manufacturers are struggling in the shadow of a booming contraband trade. Is this the dawn of affordable fashion or a crisis in the making?

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The mid-20s Mahder Pawlos has garnered a substantial following of 112K on TikTok, where she frequently introduces alternatives to mainstream aesthetic products. One video with around 175k views depicts the social media influencer trying out a bunch of secondhand clothes from a shop in the capital.

On the surface, her content seems harmless, but the reality is more complex. The clothing she highlights is often sourced from a thriving contraband industry, increasingly propelled by social media platforms.

Known locally as “Bonda,” these tightly bundled clothes, shipped from the Global North, have evolved from being niche finds in Addis Ababa to a staple of urban commerce.

In the past, Bonda was restricted to the cheekily named Taiwan, Asko Chereta, and Efoyta open markets. These traditional secondhand clothing markets entailed hundreds of buyers and sellers haggling over prices in the early hours of the morning on the city’s outskirts.

Boutique owners buy the articles of clothing sourced from around the world and apply thorough cleansing regimens before selling them in their shops.

However, the advent of the digital age, coupled with other factors, has propelled second-hand clothes into the mainstream. Now, Bonda has become the go-to source of clothing for millions of urbanites. TikTok, Facebook, and Telegram channels with tens of thousands of followers offer an assortment of clothes for a fraction of the price in these alternative transaction channels.

The entire supply chain, from wholesalers to retailers, now operates on social media platforms, making it easier than ever to enter the business with an investment as small as 10,000 birr.

One frequent customer who spoke to Shega expressed a feeling of being left without any viable option for quality garments. She says the uniqueness and quality of the products available from ‘Bonda’ sellers beat all other alternatives in the market.

“You see the same imported new clothes everywhere. But with second-hand clothing, you can be assured that each piece is unique,” she told Shega.

Elsa Geremew (name changed upon request) runs one of these shops promoted on Mahder’s social media profile. She has no moral qualms over the legitimacy of her business referring to the thousands of shops in the capital with vivid ‘Bonda’ posters.

“It is an insane claim,” Elsa stated.

The business owner pointed out that she is a loyal taxpayer who operates with a registered trade license. Elsa says the emergence of a thriving thrift clothes economy right in front of law enforcement gives it a de facto legal status.

“Everyone is doing this,” she says.” There are hundreds of shops selling Bonda’s across the entire city.”

Elsa ensures she has access to high-quality products from open markets like those found in Asko to provide the 12,000 customers on her Telegram channel with mostly luxury scarves.

A single Gucci scarf which costs over 50,000 birr in the Western world is available for less than a tenth of the price at Elsa’s shop. An array of items from luxury brands including Burberry, Chanel, and Louie Vuitton are on offer at extremely affordable rates on these channels.

While Mahder’s social media only promotes other thrift shop owners, several other accounts allow direct purchases of the products.

The Impact on Local Textile Manufacturers: “A National Crisis in the Making”

From the charity bins in mostly the United States of America and Europe, these thrift items make their way into African ports, with high-volume traders scooping up the items upon arrival. An intricate logistics network involving several stakeholders navigates treacherous contraband routes from ports in Djibouti and Mombasa, Kenya, before arriving in Addis.

The affordability of the products, along with their superior quality compared to other options in the market, has created a burgeoning demand for these types of clothing. Moreover, Bonda sellers also point to the rising cost of living as one of the main reasons behind this trend.

However, this global industry, estimated to be worth over 70 billion dollars, has become a pinching nuisance for Ethiopian textile manufacturers.

A study by the Ethiopian Textile and Garment Manufacturers Association (ETGMA) calculated the annual tax revenue loss for the country to be around 2.5 billion birr due to the thrift industry.

Ageazi Hailemariam, Secretary General of the 200-member strong association, called for accountability during a press conference two weeks back targeted at bringing attention to the underground industry. He railed against the confluence of foreign exchange shortages, lack of inputs, and dwindling exports confounding local manufacturers while an illicit industry thrives.

“Every manufacturer is impacted by the thrift industry,” Ageazi told Shega.

With the annual influx of contraband secondhand clothing flowing across the Ethiopian border reaching millions of tons, according to the Association, their market share accounts for over 53% of clothes sold in the market. Ageazi also points to a cascade of tax levies, including the 5% excise tax and the continued exclusion of Ethiopia from the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), as further impeding the local industry’s growth. He says the combination of inflation and the depleting purchasing power of the Ethiopian Birr makes it difficult to compete with the prices of thrift store clothes.

“The social media promotion has exacerbated the problem,” Ageazi says.

He cautioned that several manufacturers would be forced to close down if control mechanisms were not enhanced on the thrift industry.

In addition to the influx of contraband thrift clothing items, a niche trend of wearing second-hand garments as a fashion statement and lifestyle choice is introducing a peculiar dynamic to the industry.

Local manufacturers like Berhanu Gedefa, general manager of Edget Garment, say a lot of his peers are on the verge of closing their businesses. The founder, who has been involved in the clothing industry for four decades, believes that allowing a side thrift industry to flourish creates unfair competition.

“It is particularly devastating to local industry,” Berhanu told Shega.

As with most products moved in the shadows of formal markets, the thrift clothing industry thrives on ceaseless demand from urban areas. Double-digit inflation rates for the past four years which have slowed down to around 19% in the past month have transformed consumption patterns.

Goshu Negash, president of ETGMA and owner of Gone Garment, believes government inaction has fueled the expansion of the thrift industry. He says the impacts are limited to the local manufacturers but extend to the economy as a whole.

“Sales have plummeted, and our production capacity has dwindled,” Goshu told Shega.

The industry veteran revealed having to let go of 30 employees in the past six months amid the escalation of financial and market difficulties. Goshu fears that the entire domestic textile industry will be wiped out in the short run if the growth of the thrift industry is not managed.

“This is a national crisis,” he emphasized.

While contraband has remained an enduring feature of the Ethiopian commercial landscape, its sharp growth in recent years has reached new heights. Debele Kebeta, Head of the Ethiopian Customs Commission (ECC), revealed to parliament that a staggering 10.2 billion birr worth of items had been seized just last year.

Research by Fanta Mandefro (PhD), an economist from Addis Ababa University, gives greater credence to the figures, which estimated that 13.7 billion birr of contraband clothes entered Ethiopia in a five-year period. The investigative research estimated that only about a tenth of the contraband clothes entering the country were being seized by authorities.

Despite the local manufacturers’s calls for decreased tax levies, increased supervision of the contraband routes, and reduced duties on imports, Ethiopia’s thrift ecosystem will likely endure for years to come. The introduction of a largely unregulated commerce segment via social media has further complicated things, as the very existence of the local textile industry is threatened while the government misses out on billions of birr in tax revenue.