Mrs. Nora Bannerman Abbott, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sleek Garments Exports Limited has noted that, the revival of Ghana’s garment industry hinges not only on big-ticket investment but on practical, everyday fixes, most notably using domestic procurement and advance payments to sustain factories and keep young people employed.
Mrs. Abbott criticised procurement practices that favour cheaper foreign suppliers and payment terms that disadvantage local factories.
She pointed to the common practice of institutions paying Asian manufacturers large advances while local firms are only paid on delivery, sometimes after months.
“Why do we advance-pay abroad but make our own manufacturers wait three months for payment?” she asked, calling the discrepancy a self-inflicted injury that strips jobs from Ghanaian youth and undermines domestic investors.
The CEO stressed that many of the conditions for competitive manufacturing once existed in Ghana, skilled, trainable workers, technical support, and a track record of exports but were eroded by inconsistent policy, weak support for local industry, high energy costs and punitive taxes.
Mrs. Abbott proposed a national “virtual roundtable” bringing together ministries, agencies and industry to diagnose cost drivers and agree on measures to reduce electricity and tax burdens that inflate production costs.
Mrs. Abbott also urged a renewed focus on the domestic and African markets. Ghanaian factories can supply uniforms, hospital bedding, towels and everyday clothing, products with steady demand and could expand into neighbouring markets under AfCFTA if given export support and marketing platforms.
She noted that where manufacturers received targeted technical training and financing, swift results followed: teams trained overseas helped set up production lines that began exports within months.
She called for change in procurement rules to favour verified local manufacturers, standardise advance-payment practices, deliver targeted low-cost financing, and overhaul the cost base of manufacturing through energy and tax reforms.
Those steps, she said, would stabilise factories now struggling and create the jobs Ghana urgently needs.
