Patronising local produce: The good, the bad and the ugly

There is so much good in some of our local produce in terms of manufacturing.  They make some of us simply proud to belong.

I will patronise every day some local dry powdered seasonings, fresh fruit drinks, ice cream, cocoa-based beverages, soaps and detergents.  As choosy as I am, I can confidently say that some of them would compete favourably anywhere and any day with imports.   

There is so much good and beauty in some of our local textiles too.  Just last week I was reminded of that fact when a South African acquaintance who lives in Johannesburg sent me an email acknowledging receipt of a couple of dresses made from our local prints which I sent to her.  She was asking for some more.

She apparently received so much admiration and compliments for the Ghanaian dress that she wore to church and felt “dressed up for heaven.”  Her comments reminded me about what good we have here in our made-in-Ghana clothes and yet we second-rate them to dress up in expensi