Ghanaians promote made-in Ghana textiles in Cape Town

Two Ghanaian traders resident in Cape Town, South Africa have become perhaps, unofficial ambassadors of Ghana’s textiles industry.

Alhaji Ibrahim and Maame Adjoa have been selling African fabrics, with their shops situated at Africa Women Craft Market becoming the toast of many Africa wear lovers.

It is one of the many craft market centres on the busy Long Street in the central business district of Cape Town.

Alhaji Ibrahim, a young energetic man in his thirties carefully kneads the treadle of the machine in the market hall. He is busily making a shirt with a fabric from Ghana for a client when i visited him in the shop.

“The textile from Ghana, a lot of people like it and appreciate it, so we get a lot of benefit from Ghana textiles”, he explained.

Alhaji Ibrahim displays Ghana Textiles in Cape Town

He travelled to ‘Mandelaland’ in 2010 when life had been tough for him back home in Ghana.

Adventurous Alhaji was on a mission to actually explore business opportunities there to enable him take a decision for the future.

After three months of studying the environment, he went back to Ghana and returned well prepared to permanently settle and invest in this business.

With his clothing-making skill, it was perhaps the right decision to take. At his present base, he delivers elegant wear averagely for ten clients, both males and females, in a week.

“Sewing here in South Africa, especially, Cape Town is good. We receive a lot of tourists from across the world; normally they love fabrics from West Africa especially from Ghana. So we benefit from textile coming from Ghana”.

Cost for sewing a shirt, according to him, varies. For men it is up to 40 dollars while that of women could fetch 60 dollars.

Obviously business is good for him with better conditions available here than what prevails in Ghana.

Alhaji Ibrahim speaks to Prince Appiah

Just about a two- minute walk from Alhaji’s shop is Maame Adjoa’s. She owns two textile shops at another craft market in the Central Business District.

Fabrics on display here range from batik, tie-and-dye, high-target, Angelina-combinations and the ever beautiful and proverbial kente.

Adjoa has been selling Ghanaian fabrics for about six years. She also sews, on demand with another aim- to promote Ghana textiles; a task she executes with great joy.

“I didn’t go into this business because I didn’t get a job. That’s the intention I brought here; to promote our textiles. I already knew how to sew and do some creative things,” she said.

Maame Adjoa makes other creative items like bags, earrings, necklaces and footwear, using materials she procures from her home country.

A shirt and dress, for instance, cost between 30 dollars and 50 dollars, respectively. Major customers for both Alhaji and Maame are tourists, especially, whites.

Maame Adjoa arranging some Ghanaian textiles in one of her shops

For Maame, she tries to convince them to sew instead of selling the raw materials to them.

The motive, she explains, is to sew something nice for them so when they take it to their home countries ‘the good name of our textiles can also go far’.

Of significant importance to their business, however, is the weather which plays a major role in the patronage of their products.

They say business slows down in winter because most people are often indoors only for it to pick up in summer when people are out and about.

The weather, at the time of my visit, was windy at night but moderately sunny during the day, which means a reasonable number of people are always out especially in the day.

Joanna Kim, a Korean had gone to the craft markets dotted around Cape Town to buy some dresses.

Spotting a beautiful African material-made pair of shoes and earrings, she says she is attracted by the colours of African-made textiles.
“I like the colours: red, black, yellow, and green; they are totally different from Asian things. I buy these craft items, once a week”, Joanna emphasized.

I also met Dennisse, who was on a ten-day visit from Istanbul, Turkey. According to her, she patronises Ghanaian textiles because they are ‘local and exotic’.

“We don’t have in our country. I am getting most of them for my family and myself”.

Ghana’s textile industry has been plagued by international trade liberalisation policies and programs which allow cheap textiles, especially, from China into the local market to compete with Ghana-made products.

However, prospects are good for these two Ghanaians abroad and many others who may be engaged in similar ventures.