Senegal's textile and clothing industry was suffering, with 57 percent of domestic demand being serviced through fraudulent imports, said the minister of industry and crafts.
Bineta Samb B?said that textile industries in the country were losing ground as a result of "the persistence of large scale fraud in imports, the negative impacts of globalisation and competition from foreign products".
B?said that the customs worked against domestic production, by inflating the costs of inputs.
The minister added the inefficiencies in the industry were also holding the sector back.
The government had identified the industry as the first of a series of five groups of sectors under the Strategy of Accelerated Growth (SCA), launched in January 2005, to foster the country's economy.
A UN sponsored report, said that the "labour intensive" traditional textile sector should be developed and supported in an effort to ensure the sector's competitiveness.
