Ghana’s first indigenous textile brand, GTP, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association (GNTDA) to boost apparel production.
It also forms part of a grand scheme designed by GTP to help create jobs as well as contribute to the growth of the economy.
The partnership seeks to empower 5,000 tailors with the requisite skills and tools to produce ready-to-wear clothing fit for Ghanaians and the export market in the next five years.
At a brief ceremony in Accra on August 15, the Managing Director of Tex Styles Ghana Limited, manufacturer of GTP and Vlisco textile prints, Fatoumata Doro, said to build a long-lasting legacy in the country, as well as become a global brand, her outfit needed to sustain its growth to become innovative with a new way of defining business.
“This signing is also to support that new positioning of the brand, which is beyond just being a manufacturer brand and selling of fabric. We want our brand to be seen as a fashionable brand, and we can only achieve that when we ensure that the people sewing our fabric are empowered with the necessary skills.
“We cannot win this industry without adding value; manufacturing just fabric is not enough; transforming the fabric to ready-to-wear is the game changer if we want this industry to survive.
She said GTP will train tailors on how to sew ready-to-wear clothing, adding that “300 tailors are to be trained before next year as 200 have been trained already.”
Challenges
She explained that some challenges faced by the textile industry included the smuggling of copies of fabrics produced into the country.
“That is the biggest challenge we face, we used to have over 14 textile companies in the country but now we have just five of them and it is because of the copies. There is a big agenda from the Minister of Trade and Industry to support our industry with the tax stamps, which will be rolled-out this month and it is our hope that this will help solve part of the problems we face,” Ms. Doro said.
Adding value
The Retail Director for Tex Styles Ghana Limited, Jessica Nkwabi, said the partnership would add value to GTP fabric and improve the textile industry.
“We are opening our e-commerce site next month and this will help make our product more accessible internationally. GNTDA will also help to bring the beauty and tendencies in our fabric to reality,” she said.
The National President of GNTDA, Joana Eshun Mensah, expressed hope that the collaboration would open doors of opportunities for youth employment and skills acquisition across the country.
“We are going to make good use of this opportunity and learn how to manipulate the motives in the GTP fabric so that we can bring out the beauty of the fabric and enhance sales for GTP,” she said.
