Some local companies that have received financial support from government are making progress with the mass production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to strengthen government’s fight against the spread of COVID-19.
Four companies, namely Dignity Apparel, Cadling Fashion, Alfie Design and Sleek Garment Export Limited have all received a total of 10 million dollars as loans to produce the PPEs to meet the country’s demand.
They will be allowed to produce more to supply other West African countries that have already put in requests.
The 10 million dollar loan facility which was provided by government through the Ghana Exim Bank will 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, a representative of the company, Linda Ampah, said with the financial support from the EXIM Bank, the company can 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 will increase its production of face masks from 50,000 to 200,000 a day.
The Head of Finance at Dignity Apparel, Nurudeen Mohamed, said the company has 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 the EXIM Bank Ghana, Lawrence Agyinsam, said the decision to invest in local companies has resulted in job creation for the youth as more hands have been engaged to produce the masks.
“The Ghana EXIM 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 has 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.
