Saving Ghana’s Textile Industry

The textile lane behind the TUC building at the City Business centre is specifically dedicated to African prints and the traders are always trying to attract pedestrians to patronize their wares.

The textiles come in a variety of colures, designs and texture. About 150 million yards of African prints worth $250m are sold in Ghana each year.

The shop of Ama Amoah, a trader is filled with assorted textiles including Real Super Wax, Block Print, Super Real Wax, Imitation Wax, Java and Fancy prints embossed with the labels of known textile companies in the country.

Unsuspecting buyers are lured by the cheap prices of these textiles but they do not know that they are buying stuffs that threaten their lives.

Last week, a task force, made up of officials of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Ghana Standards Board (GSB) and Ghana Police Service destroyed Three-hundred-and-ninety-one full pieces of pirated textiles, worth GH¢200 million which were seized from warehouses and opened markets,.

The pieces of cloth, which were burnt to ashes at the Kpong landfill site, were substandard goods smuggled into the country.

They were pirated textiles with fake patent or registered logos of local manufacturing companies such as the Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL), Ghana Textiles Print (GTP) and Printex which had copied labels of the GS B.

The decision to destroy the pirated fabric was initiated by a taskforce set up by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to curb the importation of pirated Ghanaian textiles.

Before destroying the heap of the textiles which were said to have been imported from China, Anthony Doku, Director of the Research, Planning and Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, told journalists that the destruction was in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations.

Under the WTO rule, when goods infringe intellectual property rights, trademark, trade name and patent among others, governments are expected to adopt certain special measures to address the issues.

Governments, according to the WTO, should not allow the re-exportation of contraband goods but rather destroy or dispose them off.

The issue of pirating has been identified as a major challenge to the global economy. Governments around the world have used punitive measures to deter both existing and prospective traders from exploiting works that have been done by people through hard work.

“It is incumbent on government to show commitment to protecting and promoting industries and enterprises.

The nation stands to lose a lot if no action is taken,” said Mr Doku.

Prince Arthur, Head of Destination Inspection at the Ghana Standard Boards, explained that examination of the fabrics indicated that they were produced with substandard chemicals.

“They contain the 28 banned chemicals not allowed for the manufacture of textiles such as the CI acid red, CI basic red, CI direct Blue and many others. These chemicals can cause cancer and some skin diseases,” he explained.

Appiah Donyina, chairman of the taskforce, stated that he was convinced that the destruction of such textiles would deter importers from engaging in the business.

He was worried that none of the importers who engaged in the nefarious activities had so far been punished, noting that “They always run away when we track them down.”

On the other hand, Baffour Asare, Chief Collector Preventive, CEPS, explained that in many cases, it was only the drivers of vehicles who transported the pirated fabrics that were arrested and charged for carrying contraband.

In 2005, the then Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen directed that the entry point for all imports of the African prints should be restricted to the Takoradi Port so it could be easy to track the nefarious activities of smugglers who bring in these pirated textiles.

He also directed that the imported African prints, should be subjected to 100 percent physical examination by CEPS and GSB at all entry points.

Industry players welcomed the directive, but unfortunately these directives were ignored and the illicit activities persist to the detriment of the national economy, textile industries and the employees, the union emphasized.

Abraham Koomson, General Secretary of the Textile, Garment and Leather Employers Union, said the drastic decline in operations of the three remaining textile companies would collapse the entire sector.

“When the smugglers are arrested, prosecution becomes a problem and even the products are not destroyed. In Cote d’Ivoire, all the products and their truck vehicles are destroyed.”

Smuggling has escalated in recent times.

Perpetrators have adopted innovative criminal strategies to overwhelm the police.

The once vibrant textile sector of Ghana with textile companies such as Ghana Textiles Manufacturing Company and Tema Textile Limited used to employ 25,000 workers in the 1970s but cheap imports from China which sell at GH¢8, as against local products which sell between GH¢20 and GH¢30 have collapsed the sector.

Sales in the country have declined by between 50% and 75%, as customers buy Chinese copies of locally produced designs.

Mr Koomsoon strongly contended that seized materials should not be sold or auctioned in any way in Ghana, noting that once that was done, it would legitimize the illegal trade.

To him, the flooding of the country with cheap textiles and the high cost of production could force the companies to shut down.

Latter in an interview, distressed John Kwesi Amoah, Assistant Marketing Manager in charge of brand protection at the Akosombo Textiles Limited, a local manufacturing textile company, stated among other things that the importers of the pirated textiles do not only evade taxes on imported textile prints but do not provide adequate labeling information on country of origin.

He noted that based on the price and texture of the print, buyers could distinguish between the substandard and the genuine textiles since the former is cheaper and usually hard while the latter is soft and a little costly.

The wide disparity in the product pricing is due to low energy cost and interest rates as against high cost of raw materials and high interest rates in Ghana. Nevertheless, the Chinese products lack quality and fade quickly.

Since the burning of the pirated fabrics, stakeholders in the local textile industry and well-meaning Ghanaians have appealed to the Minister of Trade and Industry to sustain the exercise and enforce existing laws without delay.

They believe that the nation is on the right track to stopping to the activities of nation-wreckers.

By Emelia Ennin Abbey

So Much Rain, Less To Drink

The Western region is the hub of Ghana’s mining and agric sectors. Tourism is also booming in the area.

Covering an area of approximately 21,391 square kilometres, which is about 10 per cent of Ghana’s total land mass, the region has about 75 per cent of its vegetation within the high forest zone of Ghana
It lies in the equatorial climatic zone that is characterized by moderate temperatures.

The Western region records an average rainfall of 1,600mm per annum. With its lush green hills and fertile soil, farmers in the region provide enough food to feed many Ghanaians.

Cocoa, coffee, rubber among others are mostly grown in the region.

Many small and large-scale gold mines are located in the region. Cape Three Points, which is now prominent on the world map as a result of the recent oil find, is located in the region.

Tourist visit the various parts of the region to catch a glimpse of imposing Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Brandenburgian forts along the coast, which was built in 1512 at the popular village of Nzulezo entirely on stilts and platforms on water.

The first President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was born at Nkroful in the Western region, which records the highest rainfall in Ghana, but it can not boast of adequate drinking water for its people.

The Ankobra River, Bia River, Pra River in the east and the Tano River on the western national border are unable to solve the perennial water shortage in the region.

Vida Ackah, a 49-year-old woman, lives at Nkroful in her two-bedroom, which according to her, belongs to a maternal aunt with her nine children and elderly husband.

Victoria is faced with the challenge of securing enough water for drinking, cooking, bathing, among others on a daily basis.

She gets up at dawn with her nine-year-old boy to fetch water at the stream or community well.

“During the dry seasons our problems worsen since we walk for long hours in search of water. We return home very exhausted but just the two pans of water is not enough and so we have to try and go about four or five times.”

It is a known fact that the region has had water supply problems for some time now as a result of seawater seepage into its underground water supply, among others.

Water is a basic human necessity that cannot be ignored in this populous area, and the regional office of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency with support from the European Union is adopting various strategies to find lasting solution.

The Small Water and Sanitation Project, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency with support from the European Union (EU), is supporting 20 communities in the Western region.

The project, estimated to cost GH¢43 million, is being replicated in the Central region where 20 communities are being assisted to ensure access to water and improved sanitary conditions in the country’s rural areas.
The project seeks to provide technical support to district assemblies.

It would also encourage communities to construct their own environmental facilities.

A visit to some selected communities in the Central and Western regions revealed that the project was gradually impacting the lives of the people.

There were elevated tanks of varying capacities in all the communities as well as pumps, water treatment plants and standing taps.

Vida, who was about to offer water to visitors, says she now fetches the pipe-born water for drinking and uses water from the river for washing and bathing.

At Adum Banso, Agnes Nsiah, the water board chairperson expressed joy, noting, “This project has rely been beneficial to women and children and it has made life a little easy for us.”

Since the inception of the project, which has led to the construction of 10 pipes in the community, there has been a tremendous reduction in the prevalence of water related diseases
Though getting people to switch from drinking water from traditional river Efuma to hand dug wells in their homes has been difficult, Mrs. Nsaih is confident that “it’s a matter of time.”

People living in Nkroful and Ellembelle are laying pipes to their homes for personal use instead of sharing the community standpipe where an 80-liter bucket goes for Gh5p.

Private water connection to houses and institutions, according to Bismarck Saibi Mensah, an engineer at the Community Water and Sanitation Agency in the Western region is catching on with some people in the communities.

Since the water in the communities has a concentration of salt, the water becomes hard, which makes it impossible to ladder.

The Engineers explained that the water treatment plants have been provided to address the situation.

Abrefa Mensah, Regional Extension Services Specialist of the Western Regional Community Water and Sanitation Agency, implementers of the project, said before the commencement of the project rural potable water supply coverage in the Western region was estimated at 26 per cent.

According to a survey at the end of December 2009, it was discovered that the region’s potable water supply coverage had increased to an estimated 44.20 per cent.

It is however estimated that the on-going projects would increase potable water supply coverage by 12.50 per cent by the end of the year.

Though this would lead to total regional water coverage of 56.70 per cent, Mr Mensah says it is still below the United Nations required 76 per cent under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

However, some regions such as the Upper West, where there is less amount of rainfall through out the year, has the highest water coverage with about 76.34 per cent followed by the Ashanti region (72.14 percent) and Volta (62.63 per cent).

In the Northern region, the water coverage is 60.11 per cent, Greater Accra (59.20 per cent), Upper East (59.19 per cent), Eastern (58.56 per cent), Brong Ahafo (53.61 per cent) and Central (45.10 per cent).

Data available indicates that from 40 per cent in 2000, the national coverage figure rose sharply to 51.7 per cent in 2004 and gradually inched up to the current level of 58.97 per cent at the end of 2009.