Massive Fire Destroys Hundreds Of Stalls At Ghana’s Kantamanto Clothing Market

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Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana, home to the world’s largest secondhand clothing market, caught fire during the early morning hours of Jan. 2; by the time the blaze was extinguished, hundreds of the market’s stalls had burned down.

According to CNN, although the blaze consumed a number of stalls, Ghana’s National Fire Service indicated that there were no reported casualties and an investigation is ongoing to determine the exact cause of the fire.

Some, like Kwabena Charles, lost much of their businesses.

“I was at home… when one of my workers called, telling me to come to the market quickly. By the time I arrived at 3 a.m., everything was burnt. We tried to save what we could, but it was impossible,” Charles, a secondhand shoe salesman, told Ghana’s state-run Ghana News Agency.

According to the GNA, Richard Amo Yartey, the director of inspectorate at the National Disaster Management Organization, visited the site on Jan. 2 and expressed his sympathy to those who had experienced the loss of their wares and stalls.

“It’s quite unfortunate that this happened at a time when we should be celebrating the New Year, but this is not the end of life. We are doing our best to support those affected and ensure they get back on their feet,” Yartey told the GNA.

According to The Guardian, Alex King Nartey, a spokesperson for the Ghana National Fire Service indicated that their preliminary investigation indicated faulty wires could be the culprit, but did not rule out the possibility of arson.

“This is devastating,” Nartey said. “We’ve not recorded severe casualties, but the economic loss is enormous. Preliminary investigations suggest faulty electrical connections might have sparked the blaze, although we are not ruling out arson.”

Approximately 8,000 people have been affected so far, but that number is expected to rise in the coming days.

Alahassan Fatawu, the owner of a stall that sold modified secondhand clothes of his original design said that he was notified by a manager of a nearby stall that the market was on fire.

“The man who runs the neighbouring stall called me and said everything had burned. I started panicking. I found burnt stalls. There were still parts burning. I couldn’t salvage a thing [from my stall]. Everything has gone. Now my daily bread has been cut. I used my stall at Kantamanto to sustain myself.”

The market serves as Ghana’s local alternative to the environmentally and ethically dubious fast fashion industry, however, according to Yayra Agbofah, though there is no word from the government, the people must pick up the pieces and get back to work soon.

“The goal is to rebuild in a week,” Agbofah, the founder of the Revival, a community organization dedicated to creating awareness, art, and jobs from the textile waste in Ghana, said. “People have to return to work because they don’t have anything. There has been no information about what the government is going to do. We have to take things into our own hands and rebuild our market.”

Agbofah continued, “The traders have lost everything. A lot are in debt. This is their livelihood. There are no other alternatives. We have to find ways to get our feet back and start work. The only option is to build back and start from scratch. It’s a devastating situation.”

The Or Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to a more just fashion industry, has committed $1 million towards the clean up effort; its creative director, Daniel Mawuli Quist, issued a statement to The Guardian calling on the global fashion community to help the market in its hour of need.

“While the industry often touts sustainability as a buzzword or marketing tactic for selling new products, Kantamanto proves that true sustainability is about more than just new sales. It’s about creating a circular system that values every part of the value chain. This is a critical moment for the global fashion ecosystem to show solidarity,” Mawuli Quist said.