The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) says it is not against all imported goods, but rather the unchecked entry into the country of “cheap, inferior” goods that put local manufacturers out of business.

“The inferior quality of goods that are allowed into this country is what we are very much concerned about. The goods that come in are so cheap and inferior; they shine nicely, but if you go and pick them they do not last,” Nana Owusu Afari, president of the AGI, said at the launch of the association’s local content exhibition and conference in Accra.

“We have pharmaceutical companies in this country that are checked by the Food and Drugs Authority to produce good quality drugs; meanwhile, fake drugs are coming in from other countries. This is where our concern is,” Nana Afari said.

Proponents of market liberalisation have been quick to remind local manufacturers that they had better sit up, since globalisation will not give in to their demands.

Local industry people argue, however, that competition is fine -- but that it has to be on a fair basis. Aside the cheap quality of some of the imported goods, local manufacturers say the rates at which they borrow are far more expensive than what manufacturers in other parts of the world get.

“We can compete if we can get our institutions to stop these bad quality products that are flooding our markets, with people going to buy them because they are cheap,” said the AGI president.

“We are saying that the institutions that are in charge -- the Ghana Standards Authority, the Food and Drugs Authority, and Customs who are at the ports -- should be strengthened to ensure that things that come into this country are of good quality,” he added.

The textiles, furniture, pharmaceutical, beverage and aluminium industries, as well as various consumer product manufacturers have complained about cheap, inferior imports kicking them out of business.

The textiles industry has, in particular, been battling the copying of its designs and the printing of inferior textiles in China -- which are then smuggled into the country and sold at far cheaper prices.

Juapong Textiles, Printex and Akosombo Textiles have all warned about the imminent collapse of the local industry.

The local furniture industry is also on the brink as imported furniture has taken over the market -- to the extent that some of the bigger local manufacturers have become importers themselves.