ATL Adjudged Best Textile Manufacturer

The Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL) was recently adjudged Textiles Manufacturing Company of the Year 2017 at the Ghana Manufacturing Awards (GMA) organized by Xodus Communications and endorsed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry I n Accra.

Francis Villars, a representative from ATL, received a plaque on behalf of the company.

The event attracted players in the country's textile manufacturing industry.

Sam Hemans-Arday, Marketing Manager of ATL, in an interview, said the sales recorded in the year was used to select the winners.

“ATL's survival owes much to its strategy of continuing to produce innovative and creative designs in its own studio and also to the transfer of ABC wax technology from England to Ghana in 2006.

“The flooding of the West African textile markets with cheap, smuggled prints from Asia, often copies of original designs originally produced by local textile manufacturers, together with the pirating of locally produced brand names such as ATL and Da Viva have negatively affected ATL's market share.”

Mr Hemans-Arday indicated that notwithstanding the challenges confronting the fashion industry in Africa, Ghana has recorded growth in fashion brands, designers, production shops and schools.

“We will embark on a programme to build long-lasting relationship with stakeholders in the African fashion industry and facilitate the creation of a West African fashion system that will help the development of micro-small-medium fashion design enterprises in an ethical manner through skills improvement, education, personal development and growth,” he said.

He said: “The African fashion industry has the potential to drive Africa's future and provide solutions to pressing social problems such as youth unemployment through the diversification of local industries and by adding more value to locally produced commodity products.”

“Access to ABC's extensive design archive and its creative design studio in England has significantly strengthened ATL's position and allowed ATL to expand its export markets in the ECOWAS sub-region.”

By Melvin Tarlue