Ghana is looking at increasing its investment in the textile industry to enable manufacturing companies to take advantage of growing opportunities in the international market. Already the cotton industry is receiving an appreciable measure of attention. In Ghana cotton serves as the raw material base. Now the government plans to extend its focus to finished products.

In the past, Ghanaian companies could not take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act because of severe competition from the Asian market. So the country is aiming at diversification of the economy and wants to shed its reliance on primary products. There is a policy shift towards value addition. Investment has been hiked heavily in agriculture and this has started yielding dividends as rice production, for instance, has seen a 60 per cent increase.

The textile industry, which was once the frontrunner in Ghana’s industrial sector, has been declining over the years. This is due largely to trade liberalization policies and programs, making it impossible for Ghana’s textile products to compete with cheap imports from Asia. China has gradually taken over the Ghanaian market with a primary focus on the textiles industry. Although Chinese textiles are not durable, compared to those made in Ghana, their prices are far lower.