There is a growing literature on the impact of Covid-19 on commercial and labour conditions at suppliers in apparel global value chains (GVCs). Yet much less is known about the implications for suppliers operating in regional value chains (RVCs) in the global South. In this article, we focus on Eswatini, which has grown to become the largest African manufacturer and exporter of apparel to the region. We draw on a combination of firm-level export data and interviews with stakeholders before and after the Covid-19 lockdown to shed light on the influence of private and public governance on suppliers’ economic and social upgrading and downgrading. We point to the coexistence of two separate private governance structures: the first characterised by direct contracts between South African retailers and large manufacturers (direct suppliers); the second operating through indirect purchasing via intermediaries from relatively smaller producers (indirect suppliers). While direct suppliers enjoyed higher levels of economic and social upgrading than indirect suppliers before Covid-19, the pandemic reinforced this division, with severe price cuts for indirect suppliers. Furthermore, while retailers provided some direct suppliers with support throughout the crisis, this was not the case for indirect suppliers, who remain comparatively more vulnerable. In terms of public governance, the negative consequences of the lockdown on firms’ income and workers’ livelihoods have been compounded by the state’s ineffective response. Our paper contributes to the research on RVCs in the global South, enhancing our understanding of how different governance structures and external shocks affect firms’ and workers’ upgrading and downgrading prospects.

关于 Covid-19 对服装全球价值链 (GVC) 供应商商业和劳动条件影响的文献越来越多。然而，对于在全球南方区域价值链 (RVC) 中运营的供应商的影响，人们知之甚少。在本文中，我们重点关注已成长为该地区最大的非洲服装制造商和出口商的斯威士兰。我们结合了公司层面的出口数据以及在 Covid-19 封锁前后对利益相关者的采访，以阐明私人和公共治理对供应商经济和社会升级和降级的影响。我们指出两种独立的私人治理结构并存：第一个以南非零售商和大型制造商之间的直接合同为特征（直接供应商）；第二种是通过中介从相对较小的生产商（间接供应商）间接采购）。尽管在 Covid-19 之前，直接供应商的经济和社会升级水平高于间接供应商，但疫情加剧了这一分歧，间接供应商大幅降价。此外，虽然零售商在整个危机期间为一些直接供应商提供了支持，但间接供应商却并非如此，他们仍然相对更脆弱。在公共治理方面，国家应对不力加剧了封锁对企业收入和工人生计的负面影响。我们的论文有助于对全球南方地区 RVC 的研究，增强我们对不同治理结构和外部冲击如何影响公司和工人升级和降级前景的理解。