Rags, Not Riches

Ghana is fast fashion’s dumping ground, and unwanted apparel is throwing up on the beaches leading to an environmental crisis.

- PEACE HYDE

AT OXFORD CIRCUS IN THE HEART OF London, Rebecca Mossop, a store manager for George at ASDA, is getting ready to deliver October’s haul of clothing – that didn’t quite meet the exacting standards of the British consumer – to a delivery truck parked behind the store.

“The clothes are manufactured in China and sometimes some items fail quality control and that is where the store’s management decided on the idea of donating items of clothing they didn’t need to some of the poorest nations in Africa,” says Mossop.

The truck will make various stops at London’s high street stores before returning to its base in Lewisham, an area of southeast London. There, Michael Ofori, the managing director of a shipping company, will ensure that the thousands of piles of used and unused clothing are assembled and shipped to Tema, the largest port in Ghana, where his local team will transport them to the informal markets.

According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), in 2020, the top exporters of Used Clothing (worn clothing and articles) were the United States, China, United Kingdom, Germany and South Korea, while the top importer of Used Clothing was Ghana. With a population of over 31 million, Ghana took in over $180 million of Used Clothing, with Ukraine, Pakistan and Nigeria following suit.

“We are providing a service to thousands of [informal female entrepreneurs] all over Ghana who rely on these items for their livelihoods,” says Ofori.