A textile and garment manufacturing facility with a focus on empowering women and young girls to pursue careers in the sewing and fashion industry has been established in Kyebi, located in the Eastern Region.
Lifestyle Textile and Garment Export Limited (Lifestyle), the pioneering enterprise of its kind in Kyebi, currently employs 70 individuals from the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area.
Equipped with 100 sewing machines, the factory produces a wide range of products including school uniforms, T-shirts, clothing for children, women, and men, as well as curtains and armrests.
The venture was financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development as part of its “Invest For Jobs Programme”, a special initiative carried out by the German Development Agency (GIZ).
The Chief Executive Officer of Lifestyle, Susana Mitchell, described the opening of the factory as a testament to her outfit’s commitment to women empowerment with skills and promotion of inclusivity.
Ms Mitchell said the company aimed to recruit graduate students from the School of the Deaf to join its training and programme in the near future.
“Disability is not inability, and we believe in providing job opportunities for the marginalised in our society,” she said.
She expressed her appreciation to GIZ and the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, for their “unwavering dedication and support” to the project, as well as his advocacy for education, job creation and AIDS prevention, treatment and care.
The Okyenhene expressed his profound admiration and intrigue at the prospect of the CEO of Lifestyle company establishing a factory in Kyebi. He emphasized that the longstanding issue of poverty in Africa stemmed from the death of opportunities in rural areas.
“Our country has completely ignored rural Ghana and so people in rural areas are women and men who have been stripped of their dignity because they cannot find any work to earn decent wages to take care of their families
“So, this factory is not just for making garments but for enriching women and families.
Commencing operations in 2020 with an initial fleet of 30 machines, she revealed that the factory currently boasts nearly 100 machines, with intentions to introduce an additional 300 units in order to accommodate a workforce of 450 employees by the end of the year.
“We aim to build a state-of-the-art factory at Asikam, a few miles from Kyebi, which will have the capacity to hold some 2,000 sewing machines, which will create jobs for nearly 3,000 women in the Akyem Traditional Area,” she said.
The project was realized through a partnership between the Okyenhene’s office, GIZ, and the Eastern Regional Tailors and Dressmakers Association.
“This edifice, noble idea and factory will change livelihoods because there is a place that you can go to and there is a place to dream of going to work,” the Okyenhene said.
Applauding the CEO for setting up the factory to provide jobs for women in Kyebi, the Okyenhene said, “God bless you for what you have been able to do, as the story of Kyebi will not be the same.
“What we have seen is great for us and great for the country; it is good for our mothers and young girls,” he said and urged the workers to be dedicated and honest.
“Treat this factory as if your life depends on it; you can find human potential here, but if you decide to come to work and do not have the decency and honesty to work to build this together, then this factory will not survive,” he advised.
Simone Hochstein, the Head of Component at GIZ, stated that the establishment of the factory marked a significant achievement in generating employment opportunities within the textile and garment industry, a key focus area of the “Invest For Jobs Programme”.
She further explained that the initiative was designed to tackle the escalating unemployment issue in Ghana through specific interventions, including the training of youth for quality employment across various sectors in the country.
