Former factory workers who had been eyeing the renewal of AGOA to bring re-employment as more factories open up say the imposed 50 percent tariffs have dimmed their hope.

These are some of the workers who were retrenched in 2019 when Presitex closed and had since been living in hope that come 2025 when AGOA gets renewed, they will get their jobs back probably with more investors flooding the textile industry.

Speaking in an interview on Monday, 'Mamotumi Senekane from Matelile, residing at Matamong Ha-Thetsane, said she has been living in hope since 2019 when she was retrenched that at least in 2025 after renewal of AGOA she would go back to work but said with U.S imposed tariffs she has lost hope.

She said that she had anticipated that the AGOA renewal would bring more investors into the country but now all that seems like a nightmare she would never wake up from. She stated that after retrenchment she could not go back to her homeland Matelile as she wanted to be near in case opportunities come but to date there is still nothing.

On the other hand, Lironts'o Nkoe from Thaba-Tseka currently residing at Lekhalong Ha-Thetsane said that she is afraid that if AGOA is not renewed, more jobs would be lost. She said she has been extremely struggling since her retrenchment in 2020 to put food on the table for her family.

Nkoe said she believes it is now time for the leaders of Lesotho and the private sector to take a stance and pave the way in terms of job creation. She mentioned that the closed factories already have equipment saying all that is needed are fabrics and human resources for those factories to start operating again.

She challenged the government of Lesotho and the private sector to seek a market in other countries in the African region and reopen a few factories to see where that will get them in a year or two. She said this could be a chance for Lesotho to grow. She added that besides the closed factories in Maseru and Maputsoe, there are still factories in Botha-Bothe which have not yet opened.

Earlier NACTWU had indicated that about 5,000 factory workers are on the verge of losing their jobs as factories threaten to close down. Meanwhile, the AGOA agreement, a U.S trade initiative that grants duty free access to the U.S market for eligible products from Sub-Saharan African countries with Lesotho included, is expected to expire in September this year.

This has been particularly impactful for Lesotho's textile and garment industry which used to be a major employer and exporter to the U.S. Prior to the imposition of tariffs by the U.S, the country has been actively lobbying for an extension of AGOA due to its importance for economic growth and job creation. Over 20,000 factory workers have lost their jobs since 2020.