Ghana and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) are progressing plans to establish a Circular Economy Innovation and Textile Testing Centre, positioning the facility as a strategic response to the country’s textile waste challenge while creating industrial development opportunities.
The proposed centre represents a core component of an Italy-funded UNIDO project implemented with Ghana’s Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, aimed at strengthening circular economy solutions in the textile and secondhand clothing sector. The initiative was discussed during a UNIDO courtesy call on Ghana’s Embassy in Rome.
The UNIDO Italian Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO Italy) is implementing the project “Promoting business and technology development in Ghana’s circular textile sector”, funded by the Italian Agency for the Development Cooperation (AICS).
According to UNIDO officials, the centre would provide laboratory testing and technical services to support textile sorting and classification, identify toxic components and enable second-life industrial applications. These could include converting discarded textiles into inputs for furniture, insulation panels, automotive components, paper products and agricultural uses.
The project addresses mounting environmental pressures linked to Ghana’s position as a major destination for secondhand clothing globally. Approximately 15 million garments arrive in Ghana weekly, most at Kantamanto Market in Accra, with about 40 percent eventually ending up as waste, contributing to pollution in drainage systems, lagoons and coastal areas.
UNIDO’s approach seeks to move beyond waste management toward value creation by embedding innovation, testing and industrial linkages into Ghana’s textile ecosystem. A mapping and validation exercise is underway to identify a suitable host institution for the centre, with Accra and Kumasi under consideration. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has emerged as a strong candidate due to its technical capacity and expertise in textile research.
The initiative operates parallel to a separate Canada-funded UNIDO program. Ghana launched the Ghana Circular Economy Centre in 2025, a 7.5 million Canadian dollar project implemented by UNIDO over a five-year period in coordination with the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, with funding from Global Affairs Canada.
Ho Technical University hosts the Ghana Circular Economy Centre, coordinating specialized value-chain interventions, with the University of Cape Coast leading plastics recycling and the Or Foundation driving textile circularity, while KNUST pioneers agro-processing efficiency.
Discussions in Rome also covered plans for an Italy–Ghana Circular Economy Dialogue scheduled for June 16 to 17, 2026, in Accra, alongside Ghana-focused investment presentations across Italian cities between March and April. These engagements are expected to mobilise private sector interest and technology partnerships around the proposed textile testing centre.
UNIDO has requested Ghana’s Embassy to support the nomination of a Ghanaian investment resource person to engage Italian companies and institutions on opportunities linked to the textile and circular economy initiative.
Ghana imports over 143,000 tonnes of secondhand clothing annually, with up to 23 percent unsellable, unrecoverable and discarded, according to UNIDO data. The influx of secondhand clothing, combined with locally produced textile waste, has led to increased environmental pollution and economic inefficiencies.
The Kantamanto Market fire in January 2025 destroyed over 60 percent of the market’s retail infrastructure, displacing more than 8,000 vendors and exposing systemic vulnerabilities in Ghana’s textile waste management systems. The disaster intensified calls for structural solutions addressing both environmental sustainability and livelihood protection for communities dependent on the secondhand clothing trade.
Fatou Haidara, Deputy Director General of UNIDO in charge of Global Partnerships and External Relations, called for strengthened collaboration with Ghana to accelerate industrialisation during a courtesy visit to Trade Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare on January 27, 2026. The minister sought targeted UNIDO support for the garments and textiles sub-sector, describing it as a critical source of jobs, exports and inclusive growth.
The proposed innovation and testing centre is expected to play a strategic role in Ghana’s industrial and sustainability agenda, supporting job creation, attracting investment and reducing the environmental footprint of the global textile trade through circular economy models.
Italian companies possess expertise in textile machinery, quality testing infrastructure and circular economy technologies relevant to Ghana’s needs. UNIDO ITPO Italy launched specific industrial development programmes covering sectors where Italy sets world standards, including textile and fashion, renewable energy and environmental technologies.
The Ghana Circular Economy Centre project aims to validate 200 circular technologies and business models, train 2,000 small-scale entrepreneurs and mobilise ten million United States dollars in private capital for circular economy ventures over five years.
