Many apparel mass production companies in Ghana have experienced rapid growth over the past few years, and the industry as a whole has boomed in the country. This is in part thanks to Government initiatives recognising the economic potential of apparel manufacturing in Ghana and supporting the industry, but it has also been driven by the tenacity of the entrepreneurs, the Covid-19 pandemic and technical support from international partners. Garment manufacturers turned their skills and facilities to the essential task of producing PPE for the domestic market, allowing Ghana to rely on its own industries and not have to import face masks, medical scrubs and other forms of personal protective equipment.

This growth has been fantastic from an economic standpoint, but it was also the catalyst for making marked improvements to the working conditions of staff, better aligning Ghana’s apparel industry with international standards.

In the 21st century, with the climate crisis looming large on the horizon, economic growth is no longer the only factor that matters. Responsible businesses who have an eye on long-term growth know that growing sustainably is the key to lasting success.

As an industry, we have been closely aligning ourselves with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These 17 goals cover a wide spectrum of factors to consider to ensure industries grow and develop with sustainability at their centre, including for human wellbeing, as well as that of the planet. Safe, healthy, equitable and green improvements for all are not just preferable, but essential.

Sustainable Development Goals

Increasing the scale of garment businesses in Ghana has led to a huge demand for extra workers, which has allowed us to address a number of SDGs directly. Offering stable work has meant that we can directly tackle the problems of poverty, hunger, and wellbeing. More so, during the pandemic, ensuring staff had access to free or subsidised meals, transportation, accommodation and healthcare was vital in keeping them healthy as key workers doing vital work.

Many of our apparel manufacturing businesses have worked with COTVET and TVET to develop their own training programmes to upskill their workforce, attracting employees with no previous experience or formal education and giving them a route into a profession they can make into a career. We employ huge numbers of young people, especially women – in fact, these two demographics include 80% of workers in the industry. This has helped to address the systemic issues of gender inequality in empowering women to earn their own money and be successful in their own right.

Decent Work Leads to Economic Prosperity for All

All the efforts above are underpinned by offering decent work to our employees, allowing for economic growth at all levels of our industry. Having economically successful employees allows them to bring more money into their communities, and reduce inequality between the poor and rich.

As we grow, more funds become available to invest into innovation and infrastructure. Ghana is in close proximity to the raw materials required by the textiles trade; factories turn these raw materials first into fabrics, and these fabrics don’t have far to travel before being turned into clothes for both domestic and international markets. In this way, we reduce the miles travelled by these resources to become finished products, and Ghana’s unique global position means that these products travel fewer miles to reach their destination markets. All of this results in lower fuel consumption and less impact on the environment.

We are also keen to be more mindful of waste, particularly when it comes to fabric. Many of our member businesses have excelled at using offcuts produced by the garment production process in various ways, for example, patchworking them together to make fabric for garments and accessories, and utilising them as design elements in their clothes, to reduce the overall volume of fabric going to landfill. Alternative environmentally safe and cost effective procedures continue to be explored.

Forging International Partnerships

The garment industry in Ghana has been keen to forge partnerships with international and national stakeholders to aid us in growing our booming industry in a sustainable way. Many AGAM members have directly benefited from working with the UN, International Trade Commission, and GIZ to mention but a few. We will continue to advocate for more international compliance certification for our members, to demonstrate that sustainable standards are being maintained. From ISO and WRAP to FairTrade, there are many organisations that can help us on this journey.

The economic success of the apparel industry has been a boon for Ghana and in turn helps to support the stability and prosperity of our country, while we continue this progress in a sustainable way.