By Patrick PAINTSIL
The Swiss government has offered aUS$3.5million grant to provide employment opportunities and support for young entrepreneurs in the fashion and fabric industry of the country through the “Ethical Fashion Ghana Projectâ€.
The project, which is a joint effort between Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, will improve the economic conditions of poor communities by creating jobs through the establishment of a sustainable supply chain in textiles, fashion and lifestyle products.
This chain will be created by the establishment of links with the fashion-design industry in Europe so as to make local fashionmakers respond to current needs of the international market.
Mr. Andrea Semadeni, Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, said the Ethical Fashion Project will propel products of young entrepreneurs and designers in the fashion and textile industry onto the international fashion value chain, and will offer benefits to various players in the creative sector.
“Through engaging weaving communities, raw material suppliers and other artisans involved in textile and lifestyle accessories development, the extended company concept will be applied to create a network of participants and beneficiaries from different businesses and corporate bodies and across several local indigenous communities in the country.
“The initiative is the first of its kind in West Africa and emphasises SECO’s development cooperation approach of empowering institutions and businesses for sustainable self-reliance.
“It will be an excellent messenger of a different Africa; one that creates jobs based on deep-rooted traditions, skills and creativity for consumers’ passion -- that is, African fashion,†he noted
Mr. Semadeni said the initiative is unique in that it does not intend to boost the fringe market of ethical fashion but rather assist in the conversion of the mainstream fashion market into an ethical one.
The Ethical Fashion Initiative concentrates equally on three pillars: identification of the demand of the business; response from the local market and fulfillment of social; and labour and environmental standards.
It is part of SECO’s country strategy for private sector development in the country to support advancement of a competitive and sustainable export economy.
The project particularly seeks to contribute to the diversification of exports while increasing the share of non-traditional export products to the GDP of the country.
SECO also focuses on fostering transparency in public finances, improving sound macroeconomic policies, and improvement of public utilities in the energy sector.
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS