SECONDHAND MARKETS

Clothing traders in Accra left devastated by huge market fire

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2025

Much of the famous Kantamanto Market, which provides a living for about 30,000 people, has been destroyed by a blaze.

Thousands of secondhand clothing traders in Accra, Ghana, are facing an uncertain future after a fire destroyed much of the well-known Kantamanto Market, which is said to be one of the world’s biggest markets dealing in used clothing. 

The Kantamanto Market pictured before the fire. Photo: Wikipedia

The fire broke out at around 10pm on New Year’s Day and took several days to extinguish. The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) said there were no severe casualties, but the economic loss was “enormous”. 

 

According to media reports, Kantamanto receives an estimated 15-million used clothes from countries in the Global North each week. Most are sold ‘as is’ to consumers, but some are used to recreate locally made fashion items. 

 

Among the prominent clothing brands that are sold by the market traders are H&M, Levi Strauss and New Look. 

 

“According to the Or Foundation, which campaigns against textile waste in Ghana, 15-million secondhand garments from countries in the Global North such as the UK, the US and China arrive at the market every week,” The Guardian newspaper reports. 

 

“The Kantamanto community is responsible for recirculating 25-million pieces of secondhand clothing every month through resale, reuse, repair and remanufacturing.” 

 

Global fashion industry asked for support 

 

The Or Foundation has committed US$1-mllion to the clean-up effort and is calling on the global fashion industry to pledge support. 

 

Or Foundation creative director, Daniel Mawuli Quist, is quoted as saying by The Guardian: “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.” 

 

Preliminary investigations suggest faulty electrical connections might have sparked the blaze, although we are not ruling out arson, Alex King Nartey, a GNFS spokesperson, told the Agence France-Presse news agency. 

 

According to a report published by Ghana Web, the country’s incoming Vice President, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, has warned that conspiracy theories around the cause of the fire “must come to an end”, adding that “rumours will not suffice in this case”. 

 

You can watch a BBC News video report about the fire here.

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