By Nehal El-Sherif
Accra (dpa) - African and trendy: This is how Mabel Simpson, a young Ghanaian fashion designer, describes her products.
Simpson started her MSimps line three years ago to promote Ghanaian fabrics and fashion. Despite economic hardships, she continues to struggle to make her business grow.
The 29-year-old designs bags, accessories and male and female slippers, as well as laptop- and tablet-cases.
"I started with the aim of promoting African fabrics and made-in-Ghana products, to make our culture part of our everyday lives and appreciate what we have here," she told dpa.
"In Ghana, we have what is called the national Friday wear," she said. It is a once-a-week celebration of local dress.
"So people actually wait till Fridays before they can wear something African to work, but then I felt that it had to be a part of us every day," she said. "So, I started my designs so that you can still wear your corporate outfit and have something African with you."
She says her products might look a bit western, but there is always an African touch to it. The African fabric is made of cotton and she usually combines it with leather or polyester.
"If anyone sees the fabric, they will know it is coming from Ghana, because if you look at other African countries, traditional fabric is different. The fabric speaks for itself. Once in a while I come up with new collections, and sometimes I incorporate the Adinkra symbols in some of them."
Adinkra patterns and symbols are the heritage of the Akan, who make up one of the largest cultural groups in western Africa. They mainly live in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
Using technology to advertise her brand, she built a customer base through online platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. Then word of mouth and recommendations helped her get customers not only across Ghana, but also abroad in Africa and Europe.
"You never know who is going to buy it. It might not be a Ghanaian, it could be someone from Kenya, South Africa or Italy, and once you send a bag to this country, you are sending Africa," she said proudly.
"A lot of people from different countries and background are increasingly interested in our products. It tells you that what you are making is unique. It can sell across borders. The international market is one area that we are trying to tap into."
Simpson has two dreams for her work.
The first is to show her wares at the Milan Fashion Week and obtain outlets in Britain, South Africa and other countries.
But the second dream seems to be her bigger ambition. She wants to set up a trade school where girls, especially those from the deprived areas, can be trained in work skills.
She said there were many intelligent children who only receive basic education, then stay at home and are sometimes are forced into marriages.
"So I want to set up this school where they can get a vocation and earn some income for themselves," said Simpson.
The United Nations has said that the percentage of females pursuing non-traditional technical skills programmes in vocational schools in Ghana accounts for less than 15 per cent of total enrolments. There is difficulty in scaling up girls' enrolment.
Rights groups say that gender discrimination in access to resources and services aggravates women's vulnerability to poverty.
Simpson is proud she has been able to sustain her business.
"One thing that we need is a lot of financial and self-discipline. So whatever profit I make goes back into the business and this is how we have been able to sustain it. You can still be making money, but you won't be able to continue (if you don't)."
She believes that her studies in visual arts and graphic design helped her to make her work "stand out." Besides creativity, Simpson would advise other entrepreneurs to dedicate all their time to their project.
"It is a full-time job. You need to be creative, passionate, but you also need to be a manager and accountant."
Simpson still has not opened her own physical shop. Besides marketing her products online, she also sells her products through a small shop in Accra owned by a friend and a fellow female entrepreneur.
She hopes to have her own shop next year, despite an adverse economy and inflation.
According to World Bank estimates, most businesses in Ghana fall within the categories of small, medium and micro enterprises and they account for 70 per cent of employment in the country. But for decades the sector has languished.
While the country scored 7.9-per-cent GDP growth in 2012, inflation clocked in at 9.2 per cent.
These problems have affected the business' growth though, Simpson says.
"Petroleum products have gone up. Electricity went up by more than 70 per cent and water by 50 per cent. It is crazy," she said.
"It affects business of course. It brings profit margins down, with prices of transportation and materials increasing. It does not even make you competitive with other countries, because the cost of production is getting higher."
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated Ghana's full-year growth to be around 7 per cent for 2013 and said that inflation has risen temporarily this year to more than 11 per cent due to significant fuel price adjustments.
Simpson believes she can still defy the challenges to growth without increasing her selling prices too much.
"If you look at the quality, I think we are not even selling it at the right price, we should sell it for more. But my aim is to target the middle class," she said.
"If you sell things too expensive, the products are going to remain there. And in business, the more people who buy, the more you get your money back and then re-inject it into the project."
Feature picked up here