‘Lesotho sheds textile jobs amidst US trade uncertainty’ 11 November 2025

Hippo Knitting, once one of Lesotho’s largest textile employers, is facing collapse. The factory in Maseru, which employed over 800 workers, laid off 295 last month and announced plans to retrench another 420 employees in January. The company blames uncertainty over the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a US trade deal granting duty-free access for African textile exports. Company director Grace Lin says many international buyers have “paused or cancelled orders” because renewal of AGOA “remains unconfirmed”. In a letter last week to the Department of Labour, the Ministry of Trade, and to trade unions, Lin said “production levels are now too low to sustain operations”. “The absence of AGOA renewal has made our products uncompetitive in the US market,” she wrote. “With profound sadness, we must retrench a further 420 employees, effective 25 January 2026.”

…National Clothing, Textile and Allied Workers Union secretary general Sam Mokhele told GroundUp that the announcement came as a shock to unions. He accused Hippo Knitting of using AGOA uncertainty as cover for targeting trade union members. “This letter came barely two weeks after they retrenched 295 workers,” said Mokhele. “We were still working on challenging those retrenchments, because they were unlawful and selective [targeting union members], when they announced another 420 job cuts.” “We advised the company to avoid retrenchment by giving workers temporary off days while they look for new orders,” said Mokhele. “They refused.” “We proposed government intervention during the last retrenchment, but they refused,” he said. “Now they are the ones crying for help.”… The unions also question whether the company has been actively seeking new markets since June. Mokhele speculated that Hippo Knitting may be losing buyers because it has failed to obtain compliance certification under the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) system – a set of international labour and ethical standards required by many US brands.

“When we ask about their WRAP certificate, they can’t explain why they don’t have it,” Mokhele said. Mokhele said the company once asked the unions to write a letter confirming that past harassment complaints had been resolved so that it could obtain the certificate. “We did that in good faith, hoping it would help them fix their problems. But when they failed to obtain the certificate, they never explained why.” Hippo Knitting, union leaders warn, could be the first in a wave of factory closures if the AGOA trade agreement is not renewed soon. Despite repeated attempts to get comment, Hippo Knitting has not responded.