South African retail stalwarts Woolworths Holdings and The Foschini Group have signed an agreement to source 65 per cent of their required apparels from local manufacturers in next 10 years to reduce dependency on China. The worldwide lockdown has hit South African industry and the country is now focusing on reviving its apparel industry to boost economic growth. However, the fall of apparel industry has led to scarcity of skills and raw materials and lot of investments are needed to boost the revival of the industry.

The increasing investments by Woolworths Holdings and The Foschini Group in local manufacturing is a step in the right direction and will encourage many more such firms to come forward and help revive country’s economy.