Ghana's once vibrant textile industry is fast becoming a pale shadow of itself. Influx of pirated textiles has affected profitability of local manufacturers. Cheap copies are being smuggled in from abroad, especially from China. Fakes now make up about 60 per cent of all textiles sold in Ghana. And counterfeits can sell at half the price of an authentic product.

The textile industry in the 1980s had over 20 companies employing over 25,000 people, but as of 2015 only four companies are battling for survival. Collectively they employ about 1,700 workers. And even in these companies workers are not assured job security. Ghana was a prime textile producer in Africa, feeding a lot of markets. There was a whole value chain around it.

Textile manufacturing in Ghana is an industry consisting of ginneries and textile mills producing batik, wax cloth, fancy printed cloth and kente cloth. The textile industry includes vertically integrated mills, horizontal weaving factories and the traditional textile manufacturing firms involved in spinning, hand-weaving and fabric processing.

Wax-printed fabric, a source of national pride that has come to represent African fashion worldwide, plays a vital role in weddings, funerals, and traditional events throughout Ghana.