Free trade helps a tiny African country - with a price

Just after dawn, the women begin arriving by the thousands at Tetsane, a booming industrial area on the outskirts of this rural country's tiny capital city. Clutching lunches wrapped in thin plastic bags, sandals clicking on pavement, they race like worker ants to their factories before the 7 a.m. workday begins.

Like many women here, 22-year-old Agnus Mantopi was sent from her mountain village to find work in Maseru. There was not enough food to feed six children, so Ms. Mantopi, later followed by a younger sister, left school and set off for a job making jeans for Gap Inc. Every month, she and her sister each send home about $9, one-sixth of their monthly salaries. It's not much she admits, but it keeps starvation at bay in a country caught in the midst of a food shortage.

"Lesotho is poor," shrugs Mantopi. "We would rather be with our families, but we need money. And these days, the only money is in the factories."

This mountainous kingdom of more than 2 million people set in the heart of South Africa is undergoing major changes, in large part due to a US trade law designed to boost Africa's underdeveloped industrial sector. In the past year, 11 factories have opened and several more have expanded operations.

But even as the country's standard of living slowly begins to rise, Lesotho is having to grapple with some of the problems that come with urban growth - such as prostitution, AIDS, and workers' rights - as more people flock to the cities looking for factory work.

Launched in October 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) knocked down trade barriers for many African-made products imported to the United States. Thirty-eight countries have qualified for the program by meeting US-set economic and political standards - such as having market-based economies, combating corruption, and improving human and workers' rights. But only a handful, such as South Africa and oil-rich Nigeria, have begun reaping the benefits of AGOA.

Next week, US agencies and businesses will meet with qualified countries in the tiny island nation of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, for the second AGOA conference. Attendees will assess the progress made since AGOA's inception, examine implementation problems, and discuss ways to expand trade and investment between the US and Africa.

Among the most successful participants has been Lesotho, a largely agrarian country whose textile exports have exploded. In 2001 alone, employment in the textile sector more than doubled, increasing to more than 40,000. Figures for 2002, though not yet complete, show similar growth, and a Taiwanese company is planning to invest $150 million to build two material-production factories next year. All this, US officials point out, during a period in which most imports to the US have declined.

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