Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Friday inaugurated Northshore Apparel Ghana Limited in Savelugu, in the Northern Region, a textile manufacturing facility presented as Ghana’s first regenerative and zero-waste apparel hub.
The project represents an investment of €10.2 million, or about 6.5 billion CFA francs, and is backed by several financial partners, including Ghana EXIM Bank, Germany’s KfW Development Bank and Agricultural Development Bank. The factory is designed to produce clothing for both domestic and international markets, with exports at the centre of its business model.
Northshore Apparel currently operates 51 production lines and has already created more than 2,300 jobs, with women accounting for a large share of its workforce. The company ultimately aims to employ up to 10,000 people. The Ghanaian government says about 80% of the jobs are intended for women and vulnerable groups.
The factory incorporates several environmental features, including a 500-kilowatt solar power installation, an anaerobic biodigester and a 600,000-litre underground water reservoir. Its product range includes T-shirts, polo shirts, hoodies, children's clothing, sportswear, underwear, leggings and trousers.
For Mahama, the project is more than a textile factory. It is expected to become the foundation of a wider Northshore Industrial Hub in Savelugu, which the government says could eventually generate at least 30,000 jobs in the northern part of the country.
The project is also part of Mahama’s flagship “24-Hour Economy” programme, which seeks to encourage businesses and industrial facilities to operate in multiple shifts in order to boost production, investment and employment.
The government also hopes the factory will help rebuild Ghana’s cotton and textile value chain in the north, linking cotton production and processing to garment manufacturing and export markets.
The investment comes as Ghana seeks to expand manufacturing beyond the country’s traditional economic centres in the south. For the Northern Region, Northshore Apparel could mark a significant shift from an economy largely centred on agriculture towards a more diversified industrial base connected to global markets.
