A strategic $12 million financial package from the Ghana Export-Import Bank (GEXIM) has emerged as the critical lifeline that transformed NorthShore Apparel into one of the country’s largest garment manufacturing hubs.
Incorporated in 2021, the company initially secured a development grant from Germany’s KfW Development Bank. However, accessing the grant required matching counterpart funding, a hurdle that proved difficult after repeated attempts to secure soft, long-term capital on the open market, The High Street Journal sources explained.
NorthShore turned to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) in 2024, but the initial commercial loan fell short of the capital required to fully realize the vision of Chief Executive Officer Alhaji Nuredeen Mohammed.
The turning point came in 2025, when Ghana EXIM Bank stepped in following a rigorous feasibility assessment that validated the project’s long-term commercial viability and socio-economic impact. To relieve NorthShore’s immediate debt burden, GEXIM paid off the existing ADB commercial loan and structured a comprehensive 10-year facility.
Beyond capital injection, GEXIM committed to a three-year hands-on partnership to ensure adequate working capital and provided dedicated capacity-building support to institutionalize professional governance and operational sustainability.
This intervention directly financed the construction of NorthShore’s massive manufacturing plant in Savelugu. The facility’s first phase operates over 50 production lines, employing more than 2,300 workers, predominantly local youth with women being the majority. With an additional 800 recruits currently undergoing technical training, the company’s workforce is projected to reach 3,000 in the coming weeks.
Operating as a Free Zones enterprise, NorthShore is fully registered to export under the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The company plans to roll out second and third expansion phases with over 10,000 workers, across its 50-acre site, standing as a benchmark model of GEXIM’s mandate to drive import substitution, export growth, and rural job creation.
