‘Old Technology Killing Textile Industry’
The Chief Executive of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), A.B. Adjei has blamed the predicament of the country's textile industry on obsolete technology.
Speaking at a forum on sustainable public procurement in Ghana, Mr Adjei observed that the country's textile industry had failed to move along with new technology that would enable it become competitive in the international markets.
“Ghana's textile industry is not doing well because we are still operating with machines that are over 40 years old and not unfair competition,” he stated.
The Chief Executive of the Authority therefore called on players in the industry to change their production technology and then train staff on the new process.
“When buying new machines, the players in the textile industry need to consider sustainability issues as it is the only way that offers real value for money over a longer term,” Mr Adjei advised.
Ghana's textile industry continues to face challenges amid growing competition from cheap imports.
Currently, except Akosombo Textile Limited (ATL), household names such as Ghana Textile Print (GTP), Ghana Textile Manufacturing Company (GTMC) and Printex have all shut down their spinning and weaving departments due to cheap imports from China.
Due to the hardships, the companies have all resorted to importing gray baft and semi-finished/bleached cloth for printing here.
GTP now has a workforce of about 500, as at last year; Printex has around 300 and GTMC about 120, including management. ATL has the largest workforce so far of about 1,400.
Industry watchers are wandering what would be the fate of tertiary graduates who pursue Industrial Art courses with textile option on the labour market as the sector faces total collapse. No wonder students now opt for business programmes at the tertiary level rather than technical courses.
President John Agyekum Kufuor's pronouncement during last year's May Day parade that Ghana cannot survive better where textile production is concerned, unless she goes into partnership with China received mixed reactions from stakeholders.
He said: "If you can't beat them join them' is a well known survival strategy."
The President's announcement comes at a time the country's textile industry is struggling to hold its own. With this pronouncement, what happens to the so-called campaign to check the influx of cheap textile from Asia, especially China into the country?
Industry watchers are worried that if the floodgates are opened for the already China- saturated textile Ghanaian market, the industry will totally collapse.
Perhaps, the printing of the 50th Independence anniversary cloth from China marked the beginning of the partnership.
Textiles that come from China do not only carry the designs of Ghanaian cloths but are imitated to let them appear like made-in-Ghana cloth.
Although the Chinese textiles are not durable compared to made-in-Ghana cloth, they sell far below Ghanaian textiles.
Consequently, most retailers of textiles from local textile companies such as Akosombo Textile Limited (ATL) Printex, and Ghana Textiles Prints (GTP) are said to have abandoned the local cloth and are now selling wax prints from China which is far cheaper.
By Felix Dela Klutse