Ghana is the world’s largest importer of used clothing, receiving over 15 million discarded garments each week. But behind this flow of fashion lies a deeper crisis—of waste, inequality, and economic dependence.
Each week, around 15 million pieces of secondhand clothing make their way into Ghana, the world’s largest importer of used garments. Known locally as “Broni w’awu”, which translates from Akan as “the white man has died,” these clothes are largely discarded donations from Europe, North America, and other high-income regions.
While the phrase carries cultural and economic weight, it also reveals a troubling story of how the Global South—particularly countries like Ghana—has become the final stop in fashion’s wasteful cycle.
A Market Flooded with Waste
The epicenter of this trade is Kantamanto Market, a sprawling open-air bazaar in Accra where hundreds of bales of used clothing are opened and sorted daily. Retailers, often working under precarious conditions, purchase these sealed bales in hopes of finding enough sellable items to turn a profit.
But increasingly, what they find is waste.
According to research by the Accra-based Or Foundation, as much as 40% of the clothing that arrives in Ghana is unsellable. These unsellable garments—ripped, stained, synthetic, or unwearable—quickly become waste that Ghana is left to manage.
This has led to environmental degradation on a massive scale. In areas like Old Fadama and along Accra’s coastline, mountains of textile waste clog drains, pollute beaches, and overwhelm landfills. Some waste is burned, releasing toxic fumes; some ends up in the ocean, forming long strands of synthetic fiber known as “tentacles of textile waste.”
Livelihoods vs. Landfills
It would be easy to view the solution as a simple ban on secondhand imports. But the reality is more complex.
The used clothing trade provides income for tens of thousands of Ghanaians—from porters and tailors to market vendors and upcyclers. The Kantamanto Market alone is a massive economic ecosystem. Many rely on this trade for survival.
Yet the economic gains come at a cost. Ghana’s once-vibrant local textile industry—famous for kente cloth, wax prints, and other cultural fabrics—has been gutted. Local producers struggle to compete with the low prices of imported goods, which are often sold for pennies.
Thus, Ghana remains caught in a paradox: benefiting economically from imports that simultaneously undermine local industry and burden public infrastructure.
The Global Waste Economy
The flood of secondhand clothing into Ghana is a symptom of the fast fashion crisis. In the Global North, consumers buy more and wear items less. What’s marketed as sustainable donation is often an export of waste.
Charity shops and recycling organizations in the U.S. and Europe sell excess donations to bulk buyers who ship them overseas. The receiving countries are left to manage the waste—without compensation or the infrastructure to handle it.
In essence, Ghana is subsidizing the environmental footprint of Western overconsumption.
Local Resistance and Creative Solutions
Despite the challenges, Ghanaians are responding with resilience and innovation. A growing movement of local designers and creatives are turning textile waste into opportunity. Through upcycling, repair culture, and slow fashion initiatives, they are reimagining fashion as a tool for empowerment.
Organizations like The Or Foundation are also working with Kantamanto vendors and policymakers to advocate for fairer trade systems, better infrastructure, and extended producer responsibility from exporting countries.
There's also a growing call for international accountability—for clothing brands and consumers in the Global North to bear some of the cost of managing the waste they export.
Rewriting the Future of Fashion
The story of Broni w’awu is not just about clothing. It’s about the afterlife of global capitalism, and who bears its burdens. It’s about inequality stitched into every seam of a T-shirt that costs $5 and gets worn once.
Ghana’s role as a global dumping ground for used clothing is both a tragedy and a wake-up call. True sustainability must include fairness across borders—not just in how we consume, but in how we discard.
Until then, the unwanted clothes of the West will keep arriving in Ghana—15 million garments at a time.
About the Author:
Isaac Fiifi Klotey Mensah, is a writer and researcher focused on environmental justice, African economies, and the global fashion industry. Their work explores the intersection of sustainability, inequality, and cultural resilience.