Northshore Factory Floor: The Jobs Test for Ghana’s Export Push

GEXIM-backed garment maker shows promise and pressure of 24-hour economy

Behind Ghana’s investment pitch in Cincinnati lies a factory floor in Ghana. Northshore Apparel Hub, a wholly Ghanaian-owned garment maker financed by the Ghana Export-Import Bank (GEXIM), has become the clearest test of whether Ghana’s export strategy can create durable jobs.

In his speech to the Africa America Trade & Investment Summit 2026, GEXIM Governing Board Chairman Dr Joseph Nyarkotei Dorh said the factory has already created 2,900 jobs and is expected to reach 6,000 at full capacity. It holds orders for 530,000 decorated T-shirts and polo shirts between September and December this year, and an estimated 50 million pieces next year.

“That is the model we intend to repeat: Ghanaian capital, Ghanaian workers, American buyers,” Dr Dorh said.

The model depends on more than orders. It requires reliable power, efficient logistics, available credit and a workforce with the right skills. It also depends on the government’s 24-Hour Economy programme, which is designed to let firms run second and third shifts, raise output and create jobs.

Dr Dorh was candid about the recent past, acknowledging that high inflation, a weakening currency and costly credit had tested Ghanaian businesses. But he praised the resilience of entrepreneurs who “adapted, held on and kept producing.”

For workers, the promise is significant: thousands of new jobs in garments and apparel, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals and other targeted sectors. The pressure is equally real. If GEXIM’s financing helps Ghanaian firms meet US standards and deadlines, the jobs can last. If orders slip or infrastructure fails, the factory floor tells the truth faster than any summit speech.

“Trade is built one shipment at a time,” Dr Dorh said. “Every container that leaves Tema for an American port is a factory running, a farmer paid and a buyer served.”