The loss of Kente, Adinkra & Smock

Since the beginning of trade liberalization, the local textile producers in Ghana have been confronted with economic challenges. On the one hand legal foreign intervention in the form of cheap imports and second‒hand clothing businesses has led to the collapse of local industries, while on the other hand a massive influx of counterfeit material has caused harm to the West African clothing industry in general. As a consequence of these developments, it is possible to observe a gradual decline in revenues and employment numbers in Ghana’s textile sector, as well as the disappearance of traditional cloths such as the Kente, Adinkra and Smock.

This master’s thesis emphasizes the importance of these three main clothing types, as well as Pagne cloths, in relation to identity and communication by portraying their emergence, development and significance in everyday life. This thesis should demonstrate that the collapse of the local textile industry has resulted in a subsequent loss of Ghanaian identity. Due to the fact that identity is an abstract concept and therefore not quantifiable, country‒specific economic indicators are presented together with information based on the results of qualitative research.