GARMENTS, TEXTILES & LEATHER SECTOR

Garments, Textiles and Leather sector of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) deals with the industry along the production and life value chain of clothing, garments and leather. Textile manufacturing in Ghana is an industry consisting of ginneries and textile mills producing batik, wax cloth, fancy printed cloth and Kente cloth. Firms located in Ghana serve local and regional markets with printed African patterned fabrics. The industry has shown signs of significant growth in recent years promoting high-quality traditionally designed fabrics as “Made in Ghana: to niche markets, especially the US.

Ghanaian textile companies prefer to locate within designated and industrial areas to take advantage of Ghana’s free zone regime and stable operating environment. Today, Ghana’s textile industry includes vertically integrated mills, horizontal weaving factories and the traditional textile manufacturing firms involved in spinning, hand-weaving and fabric processing.

Textile exports include: Cotton Yarn, Cotton Fabric, Printed Fabric, Polyester Fabric, Blankets and Bed Sheets.

The dry, savannah climate in the Northern regions of the country is ideal for the cultivation of cotton, which is the primary material used by mills, weavers, batik and tie-dye manufacturers in Ghana.

The industry is supported by National Vocational Training Institutes throughout the country. These institutes provide basic practical and theoretical training in tailoring and dressmaking. There are also a growing number of private fashion design institutes and internationally acclaimed designers that teach latest techniques to aspiring textile designers.

Actors within this sector include producers of cotton, wool, fashion designers, retailers, textiles companies, shoes, bags amongst others. Other players also include large scale garment producers and exporters.

This sector supports such industry players by providing a conducive atmosphere to help grow the sector.

SECTOR CHAIR

MRS. EDWINA AMA ASSAN

Background

Edwina Ama Assan was born and grew up in Cape Coast as a young person with passion in creativity and design. She is the Managing Director and Creative Designer of EDTEX Ltd, a textile design & manufacturing company as well as a social enterprise engaging in advocacy, designing, producing, training and mentoring in Ghana and across borders.

Values

Edwina is committed to the development of the arts, especially the development of the textile industry as a tool for empowerment of the youth, women and the socially vulnerable and also for the economic development of people.

Educational Background

Born and raised in Ghana, Edwina holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) Degree in Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Degree in Textiles from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Engagements

Edwina participated in the International Finance Corporation (IFC’s ) study ‘ GENDER AND ECONOMIC GROWTH ASSESSMENT FOR GHANA 2007’ and also featured in IFC’s Research document , Magazine as well as on TODAY’s Woman, A TV3 Magazine Program ‘ VOICES OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN GHANA IN APRIL 2007 . She has been featured Business and Financial Times Magazine and been guest on MNET Studio 53 and several occasions on BBC.

She also participated in several management seminars and workshops in Ghana and abroad including countries such as South Africa, Turkey, United Sates of America and United Kingdom.

Strategic Positions Held

President of SPINnet Textiles & Garment Cluster (Ghana’s Premier association of Textiles & Apparel manufacturers).
President of EMPRETEC Business Women’s Forum
Chairperson for National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) Creative and Industrial Arts Sector.
Task Team Leader on Research for Ghana Culture Forum.

Awards

Several awards both local and international to her credit the recent being.
Ghana Shippers Authority-Special Recognition award
Common Objective-CO 2022 Leadership Award (Recognition for Excellence in Sustainable Fashion. Common Objective – an international textile group made up of over 55,000 global members

Entrepreneurship

EDTEX is an acronym for Edwina Textiles, a business she started and registered initially as a sole proprietorship. As the business grew into a family business, it was re-registered as a limited liability company in 1998.

The range of products produced by EDTEX include fabrics for private brands, fashion designers, wholesalers of home décor and fashion accessories as well as for individual clients.

Support to the Textile Industry

Edwina has and continue to play several leading roles in the Textile Industry. Her company has been the training grounds for a number of students from various institutions for internships and short learning sessions.

Some of the institutions who have and or continue to send students to Edtex are KNUST, Ashesi University, Takoradi Technical University, University of Education Winneba and GRATIS. She has also received National Service Personnel through a collaboration with Ghana Export Promotion Authority for the past 10 years and most of these students started running their own businesses after leaving EDTEX.

Edwina has also trained different categories of people from primary schools to senior levels, tourists, refugees and cross-cultural groups.

As a mentor, she continues to share her knowledge and experience with many mentees and these include several young entrepreneurs and students either formally or informally.

Edwina has also been a resource person for a number of programs which include: Trainer of Trainers Workshop in Batik Production for GHACOE Women’s’ Ministry which was supported by DAAD now DFID and NBSSI now GEA, Students from Selected West Africa Tertiary Institutions sponsored by EMPRETEC Foundation, Training of Refugees from Togo sponsored by UNHCR, Training of Women from West African Countries that was sponsored by ECOWAS Secretariat, Foreign Affairs Ministry and Ghana Enterprises Agency.

As the President of SPINnet Textile and Garment Cluster, she led the Association to train and empower a number of vulnerable women and also People Living with HIV and AIDS as part of the association’s activities with support from the African Women Development Fund.

As an advocate for the Textile Industry, with support from the BUSAC Fund, a Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund, she led SPINnet Textile and Garment Cluster to advocate for the setting of minimum standard for textile imports and the clamping down of smuggling and dumping of cheap textiles from Asia. This led to the renewed activities of the anti-smuggling task force of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

She was also part of the two member committee to review the syllabus of Kumasi Technical University Textile department to make it relevant to Industry.