Furniture manufacturers urge govt to ban import of second-hand furniture

Import of second-hand furniture collapsing local furniture industry, furniture manufacturers

COVID has greatly affected Ghana’s furniture industry - Gyamfi

High cost of inputs, low patronage collapsing business, furniture manufacturers

Furniture manufacturers in Ghana have urged govt to ban the import of second-hand furniture.

In an interview with GNA, a furniture manufacturer in Tema, Henry Kwame Gyamfi said although furniture produced locally were of high quality and less expensive the import of cheap sub-standard furniture was making it difficult for local producers to compete and stay in business.

He, therefore, urged the government to ban all second-hand furniture so as to boost the growth of the local industry.


"The furniture we produce here are of quality, and less expensive as compared to the second-hand ones and I believe if it is banned, the people will have no choice but to buy from local furniture producers which will boost the economy," Kwame Gyamfi was quoted by GNA.

Mr Gyamfi who was speaking on behalf of furniture manufacturers in Tema added that: “we cannot build our nation based on over-dependency of imported goods that have an advantage over our local production, we need the government’s intervention to survive the surge of imported goods into the country.”

He also said the furniture industry had been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with most of their usual customers including hospitals and hotels not patronising at levels they use to.

In addition to low patronage, he said the cost of inputs had increased due to the pandemic.

The increase in the cost of input and the low patronage, he said, has led to a lot of furniture makers losing their capital which is collapsing a lot of these businesses. Read Full Story