The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr Yofi Grant, says the Centre is working with the textiles and garments industry to increase its earnings from the global market.
He said even though many challenges had hit the industry and contributed to a drastic decline in production and exports, the GIPC with its stakeholders was bent on adding value to the products to make them more attractive.
He attributed the decline to a surge in Chinese imports and Chinese influence on the Ghanaian market with lower-priced products, leading to a low demand for domestic textiles.
The smuggling of foreign textiles, especially from China and Vietnam, and lack of raw materials were also challenges.
Mr Grant made the statement, on Wednesday when the GIPC organised a “Garments & Textiles Investment Meeting” in Accra in partnership with the Cotton Development Authority and the Association of Ghana Apparel Manufacturers.
The meeting, on the theme: “The Future of Garments & Textiles in Ghana’s Industrialisation Drive”, was to enable stakeholders to deliberate the challenges impeding the growth of the once-booming domestic industry. It was also to devise a structured approach to enter the global market.
Mr Grant said the name Ghana was becoming a common space in the global economy from textiles to soccer, architecture, and music, among others.
“We do have an opportunity to add value to all these things for export revenues and we can create significant wealth through that because Ghana has a potential to become a major exporter of garments and textiles,” he emphasised.
Mr Grant said the United States imported $31 billion of textiles annually, while the European Union imported about $69 billion, hence, it was prudent for Ghana to take advantage of the opportunities.
He encouraged the private industries to partner each other to acquire benefits such as capital, state-of-the-art management practices, and opportunities to build new markets.
Mr Gregory Kankoh, President of the Association of Garment and Apparel Manufacturers, said the Ghanaian industry had proven its capability even in the midst of COVID-19 by producing high quantities of face masks for the health and educational sectors.
He advised industry players not to compete among themselves but against foreign companies that undermined their operations with their less quality and less costly materials.
He appealed to the GIPC to explore more avenues to promote made-in-Ghana goods among the citizenry and reduce their interest for second-hand clothing.
Mrs Nora Bannerman-Abbott, the CEO of Sleek Garments Export Limited, advised manufacturers and distributors of textiles and garments to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to position themselves in the African market for recognition and partnership.
She also urged them to follow up to ensure the implementation of policies promised by the government to contribute to the growth of the industry.
Mr Michael Abanah, Acting Executive Director, Cotton Development Authority, said the cotton growers were currently unable to produce enough to feed the textile industry due to lack of requisite investments to procure machinery and other logistics for operations.