The Ghana Export-Import Bank (GEXIM) has lauded the efforts of local companies for their speedy production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to aid the fight against the spread of COVID-19.
The local companies, Dignity Apparel, Cadling Fashion, Alfie Design and Sleek Garment Export Limited are beneficiaries of financial support ($10million) from GEXIM and have justified increased funding from the bank.
The companies are already receiving orders to supply other West African countries.
The $10 million loan facility was to boost the capacity of the companies to produce face masks, scrubs, and protective gowns that will be used by health works.
A tour of the four companies in the Greater Accra Region showed hundreds of workers busily sewing the face masks.
At Cadling Fashion, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Linda Ampah, said with the financial support from the EXIM Bank, the company could produce a minimum of 30,000 face masks a day.
On average, Alfie Designs, and Sleek Garment Export Limited said they could produce 45,000 to 50,000 face masks a day.
At Dignity Apparel, the company said it could ramp up production of face masks from 50,000 to 200,000 a day.
The Head of Finance at Dignity Apparel, Nurudeen Mohamed, said the company had already procured all the necessary machines from China to help them meet the 200,000 target.
“We are ready to go into full production of the 200,000 face masks by next week,” he said, adding that the target is produce for West African countries such as Nigeria and Liberia.
He disclosed that the Ministry of Health has contracted the company with supervision from the Ministry of Trade to supply protective clothing for doctors and frontline nurses in the fight against COVID-19.
The Chief Executive of GEXIM, Mr Lawrence Agyinsam, said the decision to invest in local companies had resulted in job creation for the youth as more hands had been engaged to produce the masks.
“The GEXIM made the investment long before the COVID-19 outbreak. It shows you that we are interested in the growth of Ghanaian companies,” he said.
Mr Agyinsam stated that the investment had yielded fruit at the right time since no country is ready is to produce face masks for others when domestic demand has not been met.
Source : NowNews Ghana
