Ghana’s Leather and Footwear Makers Take Their Fight to Parliament

Ghana’s domestic leather and footwear industry is sounding the alarm. On the back of mounting production costs and a flood of finished imports, the Ghana Leather and Footwear Manufacturers Association (GLFMA) has formally petitioned Parliament to overhaul a tariff regime it says is quietly dismantling local manufacturing.

At the centre of the dispute is a simple, stubborn arithmetic. According to GLFMA President Gilbert Ntim, tariffs on the raw materials his members depend on climb as high as 36.1 percent. That penalty is loaded onto every pair of shoes and every leather good produced on Ghanaian soil, before a single stitch is sewn. The result, Ntim argues, is a cost structure that leaves locally made products uncompetitive against imported alternatives that face far lighter barriers at the border.

The Association has submitted its petition directly to Parliament, calling for an urgent review of the current tariff schedule and stricter enforcement at Tema Port, Ghana’s principal gateway for imported goods. The demand is twofold and deliberately narrow. First, lower import duties on production inputs — the hides, chemicals and components that local factories must buy to operate. Second, tighten inspection and checks on finished synthetic products entering the country, particularly those arriving from China.

The Chinese import question is the most politically charged. A related Leather News report notes that Chinese footwear alone is estimated to account for around 70 percent of all footwear sold in Ghana, a dominance that local manufacturers say has gutted domestic production and erased jobs. Synthetic finished products, often cheaper and unencumbered by the same input duties, compound the pressure on homegrown brands that are trying to scale.

For Ntim, this is not merely a commercial grievance but a social one. Rising costs are squeezing manufacturers, and some factories have already been forced to shut their doors. The pain, he warns, radiates outward to artisans, small workshops and young people who rely on the leather and footwear sector for employment. In a country where light manufacturing is seen as a critical ladder out of informal, low-wage work, the erosion of a viable footwear industry carries long-term consequences.

The Association has not ruled out escalation. Ntim said GLFMA could take to the streets if the government’s response fails to address the industry’s core concerns — a rare threat of public protest that underscores how seriously the sector views the moment. Alongside the protest warning, the group is also pressing for stronger enforcement of existing laws designed to shield local producers from what it characterises as unfair competition from imported goods.

The underlying argument is that protecting the value chain is not protectionism for its own sake. Lower duties on inputs and tighter controls on finished goods, the Association contends, would simultaneously reduce manufacturing costs, defend jobs and give Ghana’s leather and footwear industry room to grow rather than merely survive.

It is a familiar tension across emerging leather economies: how to balance the consumer benefits of cheap imports against the strategic value of a domestic industrial base. Ghana’s manufacturers are now betting that Parliament will see the long game. If the tariff review moves quickly, factories could regain price competitiveness and rehire. If it stalls, the streets may become the next venue for the conversation.

For now, the ball sits with lawmakers. GLFMA has laid out a clear, actionable agenda — cut input tariffs, police Tema Port, and give local makers a fighting chance. Whether that translates into policy before more factories close is the question hanging over Accra’s footwear belt.

Source: Leather News (leathernews.org)