Ghanaian garment makers have ability to compete: US envoy

20 Jun '12

2 min read

US Ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, strongly believes that just like their counterparts in other countries such as Mexico, Ghanaian garment makers also have the ability to prepare quality apparels that can compete in the US market.

Turning down the contention that Ghanaian tailors and seamstresses cannot prepare quality apparels like those made in Mexico, during an African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) panel discussion in Accra, the envoy stated that speaking particularly about apparel manufacturing, Ghana can compete with any country, including the US.

Though US produces great suits, hardly one percent of business suits donned by men in the US are the ones made domestically, and the rest are imported from China, Philippines, Mexico and Poland, he said, and added that none of these countries enjoy any key benefit over Ghana, or Africa, in general.

He, however, accepted that there are some challenges confronting the Ghanaian textile industry, which prevent it from establishing itself as an internationally competitive garment manufacturing hub.

Stating of power supply cut as one of the biggest issues confronting the Ghanaian textile industry, Mr. Teitelbaum said not only such cuts hike the production costs, but also impact the industry’s consistency.

As compared to Kenya, Lesotho and Mauritius, three of Africa’s leading exporters of apparel, knit and woven items to the US, Ghana’s apparel exports to the US under the AGOA is quite insignificant.

Mr. Teitelbaum suggested that Ghanaian apparel makers should expand their trade circles and increase their intra-African trade, as doing so could help them better penetrate the US market.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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