Fukugai.. “The Haven for the Poor” in Mauritania

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In the northwestern African country, there are no clothing factories, where sewing workshops are satisfied with the production of local dresses, so the Mauritanians found an alternative in the used clothes that they call "fukugai"It is an African word that differs in its interpretation.

Maymouna takes her two children, Muhammad Al-Amin and Al-Mukhtar, to a second-hand clothing store, Ibrahim’s shop.

She finds that some women preceded her and sat waiting for the opening "baloota" Out of children’s clothing, one of the shop workers opens "khancha" Or a garment bag, with pieces of iron ingots that fix it on both sides, and place it in front of the shop owner, who begins to stack each type of clothing side by side, before allowing customers to choose.

"I found two suitable clothes for Mukhtar, but I did not find suitable clothes for his brother"says Maimouna, a spokeswoman for the website "Sky News Arabia"she adds: "fukugai Better than other clothes in terms of quality and cheaper in terms of price, so we resort to it to buy children’s and youth clothes".

In another corner, Umm chooses different dresses of various shapes and sizes, examines the dress carefully, and if she likes it, she puts it aside.

Expected pending "Sky News Arabia" What you do, saying: "I pick out clothes that have never been used or that are still in good condition, and resell them in my shop".

And not far away, Ibrahim Muhammad sits watching and meditating, and perhaps memories return him to his beginning with trade, when he left the service in the gendarmerie and became a profession in the clothing trade, before he specialized in selling used clothes.

That experience he talks about for the site "Sky News Arabia" saying: "The clothing trade started in 1999, and after 10 years there was a stagnation in this trade, the used clothing sector caught my attention. I saw the great demand for it and noticed that most of its professionals are amateurs with no experience in trade, so I decided to give it a try. I started from almost zero. I invested less than 100,000 ounces (about $300) and a year later the result was beyond imagination".

Ibrahim remembers how difficult it was to start with the inferiority view that society used to see in the used clothing trade, as "The common concept was that Fukudjai meant discarded and worthless clothes, but with the passage of time that knot was crossed so that we hoped that look would return until there was less competition".

Regarding the sources of used clothes shipments that reach the Mauritanian markets, Ibrahim explains that "mainly come from France Belgium and the Netherlands. There are companies, if you can reach them and deal with them, that send you the goods every 3 months, and you may encounter irregular offers to buy from and win, but the guarantee of success is linked to used clothing companies".

In the Tiaras market, Muhammad Al-Amin displays in his store goods ranging from shoes to blankets, passing through types of men’s and women’s clothing and children’s clothing, as well as some devices and utensils, and when we asked him about the secret of this diversity, he replied with a laugh: "This is all good"any clothing used colloquially in northern Mauritania.

The Secretary explains to the site "Sky News Arabia" That Spanish word means "Imported user from abroad"but the original meaning of the word refers to the discounts that the Spanish markets witness at certain times, which may be among the sources of second-hand clothes in Mauritania.

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In the northwestern African country, there are no clothing factories, where sewing workshops are satisfied with the production of local dresses, so the Mauritanians found an alternative in the used clothes, which they call “Fukogai”, an African word that differs in its interpretation.

Maymouna takes her two children, Muhammad Al-Amin and Al-Mukhtar, to a second-hand clothing store, Ibrahim’s shop.

She finds that some of the women preceded her and sat waiting for the bale of children’s clothes to be opened. One of the shop workers opened the ruff or bag of clothes, by cutting the iron ingots that fastened it on both sides, and placing it in front of the shop owner who started stacking each type of clothing side by side, before To allow customers to choose.

“I found two suitable clothes for Mukhtar, but I did not find suitable clothes for his brother,” Maimouna says, speaking to “Sky News Arabia”, adding:fukugai It is better than other clothes in terms of quality and cheaper in terms of price, so we resort to it to buy children’s and youth clothes.”

In another corner, Umm chooses different dresses of various shapes and sizes, examines the dress carefully, and if she likes it, she puts it aside.

She explains to “Sky News Arabia” what she is doing, saying: “I pick out clothes that have not been used before or that are still in good condition, and I resell them in my store.”

And not far away, Ibrahim Muhammad sits watching and meditating, and perhaps memories return him to his beginning with trade, when he left the service in the gendarmerie and became a profession in the clothing trade, before he specialized in selling used clothes.

That experience, which he talks about to “Sky News Arabia”, saying: “The clothing trade started in 1999, and after 10 years there was a stagnation in this trade, so the used clothing sector caught my attention. I saw the great demand for it and noticed that most of its professionals are amateurs who have no experience in trade. I decided to give it a try. I started almost from scratch. I invested less than 100,000 ounces (about $300) and after a year the result was beyond imagination.”

Ibrahim remembers how difficult it was to start with the inferior view that society viewed at the second-hand clothing trade, as “the prevailing concept was that Fukudhai meant neglected and worthless clothes, but with the passage of time that complex was crossed until we hoped that this view would return until there was less competition.” “.

Regarding the sources of used clothes shipments that reach the Mauritanian markets, Ibrahim explains that “they mainly come from France Belgium and the Netherlands. There are companies, if you can reach them and deal with them, that send you the goods every 3 months, and you may encounter irregular offers to buy from and win, but the guarantee of success is linked to used clothing companies.”

In the Tiara market, Muhammad Al-Amin displays goods in his store that range from shoes to blankets, passing through types of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, as well as some devices and utensils. Mauritania.

Al-Amin explained to “Sky News Arabia” that the Spanish word means “used imported from abroad”, but the original meaning of the word refers to the discounts that the Spanish markets witness at certain times, which may be among the sources of used clothes in Mauritania.

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