The Chief Executive Officer of Northshore Apparel Ghana Limited, Nurideen Mohammed, says sustainable employment, rather than an exclusive focus on armed security responses, offers the most enduring solution to insecurity in Northern Ghana.

Speaking at the official commissioning of the Northshore Apparel Industrial Park in Savelugu in the Northern Region on Friday, August 28, Mr Mohammed said dignified work could prevent young people from being recruited by individuals seeking to foment conflict.

“Across Northern Ghana, the most durable answer to insecurity has never been the silencing of a rifle. It is in the steady hum of a sewing line,” he said.

“It is in the payslip a young man or woman takes home to their family. It is in the supplier networks, the skills transfer, the export receipts and the local supply chains that quietly knit a region into the global economy.”

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According to him, industrialisation should be viewed not only as an economic development strategy but also as an important component of Ghana’s national security framework.

“Northshore was built on a simple thesis: dignified work is the most reliable peacebuilder. Economic transformation is national security policy by another name,” Mr Mohammed stated.

“A young man whose time is measured in cedis will not have enough to spare for those who foment trouble.”

He said the establishment of the factory in Savelugu was intended to bring employment closer to young people in Northern Ghana, many of whom previously had to migrate to major cities in search of work.

Mr Mohammed noted that Northshore faced opposition from some prospective supporters who considered Northern Ghana too risky for an industrial investment of that scale because of incidents of violence in parts of the region.

He said the company remained committed to the project despite those concerns and was determined to demonstrate that internationally competitive manufacturing could thrive in Northern Ghana.

“By doing so, we will attract many huge industries to this part of the country, and our hardworking people will get jobs and live in dignified conditions,” he said.

The CEO urged workers and residents of Savelugu to protect the factory and help prove to prospective investors that establishing businesses in the area was commercially viable.

“This factory is not mine. It is ours. I am only one out of the 2,300 employees, which means that if I am absent, the factory can function, but if you are absent, it will shut down,” he told the workers.

“Own it. Protect it. And prove to other investors that it works and that it pays to set up here.”

The facility has trained and deployed more than 2,300 operators and currently operates 50 sewing lines. Northshore plans to expand its sewing capacity to 200 lines during the second phase of the project.

GEXIM supported the establishment and operationalisation of the factory through a blended financing model involving the Investing for Employment facility of Germany’s KfW Development Bank and equity from the project promoters.

The factory has 50 sewing lines, a 4,000-square-metre cutting and design facility, and 8,000 square metres of storage space for raw materials and finished products.

Its first phase has created 3,000 immediate jobs, with direct employment projected to rise to 10,000 when the facility reaches full operational capacity.