Gikomba is a lifeline for many

Nairobi, Kenya: Almost every Nairobi resident has worn some piece of clothing purchased from Gikomba.

Statistics show that Gikomba is the second biggest destination for second-hand clothes emanating from the United Kingdom, with an annual supply of over 20,000 tonnes. This is part of the more than 70,000 tonnes of second-hand clothes that Kenya imports every year.

Poverty has been cited as the main reason for these imports.

Few can afford brand new clothes from the high-end fashion shops in town.

Paradoxically, many of these clothes are actually donations from Western countries.

Gikomba has about 15,000 retailers, with women making up about 60 per cent.

Each morning, these retailers purchase bales from wholesalers that they then unpack and grade according to quality.

The first buyers after the bales are opened are said to buy ‘camera’, a term unique to Gikomba that refers to high quality clothes sold to a select group of merchants.

Some of these end up in the city stalls and sell for a fortune.

Others from the first batch are re-exported to neighbouring countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and even the DRC.

After the ‘camera’ buyers are done, the second ‘camera’ items are sold at a lower price to other retailers, and so the chain continues.

There is even a group of business people who will buy the clothes from one end of the market and resell them on the other end for a profit.

In Gikomba, you can find just about everything – foodstuff, clothes, shoes, furniture... you only need to look.