The Race to Upcycle Africa’s Fast Fashion Dumping Ground

Sadly, this is often just fantasy. 

Much of today’s used clothing—donated with good intentions—will likely end up in a landfill halfway across the globe, quite possibly off the West African nation of Ghana. In 2021, Ghana imported $214 million of used clothing, the most in the world, and it remains among the top destinations for discarded fast fashion today.

In Accra, Ghana’s sprawling capital, Kantamanto spans 42 acres and is purported to be the world’s largest secondhand textile market. Each week, it receives 15 million pieces of used clothing, amounting to some 225,000 tons a year. If you can think of it, you can find it within Kantamanto’s labyrinthine alleyways, which are piled high with used sneakers, bras, blouses, ties, belts, leather jackets, shoes, bags, and suit trousers.

Clothes are predominantly sourced from Western charities, which sell donations in bulk to third parties.These are then shipped to Ghana from the U.K., U.S., and Europe—hence the local nickname of obroni wawu, or “dead white man’s clothes.”