Ghana is seeking to expand apparel manufacturing beyond its traditional industrial centers as the government backs the launch of a multimillion-euro factory in Savelugu aimed at creating jobs and supplying both domestic and international markets.
The Northshore Apparel Hub, commissioned under Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy initiative, is one of the largest Ghanaian-owned apparel manufacturing facilities in West Africa, Trade Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare said at the opening ceremony.
The project was financed through a combination of funding from Ghana Export-Import Bank, private equity from Ghanaian promoters and support from KfW Development Bank’s Investing for Employment Facility on behalf of the German government.
The facility is designed around renewable energy, zero-waste production and what the minister described as fair labor practices. It includes a childcare facility and is intended to train more than 2,000 young people as apparel operators.
“This is keeping with His Excellency the President’s conviction that industrialization must reach every part of Ghana and that no region should be left to watch prosperity pass it by,” Ofosu-Adjare said.
The investment is part of a broader government push to use manufacturing to create jobs and spread economic activity beyond southern Ghana, where much of the country’s industrial infrastructure is concentrated.
Capturing More Apparel Value
The minister said the global apparel market was valued at $557.5 billion in 2024, citing World Trade Organization figures, with China accounting for close to 30% of global apparel exports and Bangladesh and Vietnam together representing about 13%.
Africa, however, captures a much smaller share of the apparel trade despite its cotton production base, Ofosu-Adjare said.
The continent supplies close to a tenth of the world’s traded cotton but exports about 90% of its raw cotton to Asia, according to the International Trade Centre, leaving much of the processing and manufacturing value outside Africa.
“This is a clear sign of value leaving our shores before it is even spun into thread, let alone sewn into a garment,” she said.
Ghana is seeking to reverse that pattern by expanding domestic production and connecting agriculture with manufacturing.
The minister said more than 4 million hectares of Ghana’s northern savannah zone are suitable for cotton cultivation, much of which remains uncultivated.
She said a pilot cotton project by Benti Energies Limited in Zungali is performing well, with the company planning to cultivate more than 5,000 hectares next year if the trial succeeds and replicate the model in the Northern Region.
That expansion could provide a domestic raw-material base for apparel manufacturers such as Northshore, strengthening the link between agricultural production and industrial processing.
Manufacturing Investment
The opening comes shortly after the government reported that Ghana attracted $2.62 billion in new investment in 2025 across 254 projects, with manufacturing leading by number of projects. The investments are projected to create almost 19,000 jobs, according to the minister.
Ofosu-Adjare said the economic value of investment ultimately depends on whether capital translates into production and employment.
“Investment only acquires its true economic meaning when it reaches the factory floor and creates opportunities for Ghanaian businesses,” she said.
Northshore’s decision to establish the facility in Savelugu is therefore being presented by the government as an example of how industrial investment can be used to create economic opportunities outside Accra and Ghana’s southern industrial corridor.
The government also expects the factory to help reduce the pressure on young people in northern Ghana to migrate south in search of work.
“North Shore is proof of what is possible when a wholly Ghanaian-owned enterprise is given the confidence, the financing, and the market access to think big,” Ofosu-Adjare said.
The minister said the government will continue working to improve the business environment, expand export-market access through trade agreements and support manufacturers seeking to scale production.
The broader objective is to build an economy that produces and adds value locally before exporting to international markets, she said.
