Kantamanto Market Fire 2025 – A Wake-Up Call for the Fashion Industry

Kantamanto Market located in the West Africa in Accra, Ghana, is one of the biggest secondhand clothing markets in the world, packed with used clothes mostly from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. We discuss in detail how this largest market recently suffered an inferno, affecting many livelihoods, and magnifying the need for awareness of how Kantamanto is receiving a large volume of waste from the Western World.

The Oversupply Problem and the Fashion’s Dirty Secret

A Guardian news article titled 'It’s the industry’s dirty secret’: why fashion’s oversupply problem is an environmental disaster' quotes statistics stating that between 80 billion and 150 billion garments are produced every year and between 10% and 40% of these items endup unsold. So, they estimate that there might be an excess of 8 billion or 60 billion garments each year, which is an insane amount of waste!

Ghana alone is not the only dumping place in Africa; other African countries face the same plight of used clothing being dumped and are drowning in this unwanted textile waste. The United Nations Africa Renewal magazine mentions how Oxfam, a British charity, has reported that 70% of all donated clothes from Europe and the U.S. end up in Africa. Imagine the situation—mountains of clothes arriving every week, with no real way to manage them. Greenpeace, a non-profit raising awareness about climate change and environmental issues, reports that the market has more than 30,000 people working there with the chaos created by this overflow of clothing waste.

(Image credits: The Revival by Yayra Agbofah)

Recent Fires: A Heartbreaking Crisis Reignited

The first challenge already lies in dealing with the gigantic piles of waste that arrive in the market. And now... the devastating fires. This is not the first time this has happened. Going back a little further, another fire accident in December 2020 affected and destroyed over 1,000 shops in Accra. There have been several fires in the past, with piles of clothes destroyed each time. In 2022, there was a similar fire that broke out in the same market, reported by The Or Foundation, Ghana.

The Or Foundation, a Ghana-US non-profit organization on a mission for a circular economy. Their campaigns, like #SpeakVolumes, call for awareness and action from individuals and big fashion brands. Their newsroom page provides ground reporting on recent fires and updates, covering these incidents closely.

One specific post by The Or Foundation highlights how they remove 10 tonnes of clothing waste from Accra's beaches every single week—just imagine that! Quoting the post, they equate this amount to "two and a half elephants, 125 average men, and 37 times the Olympic heavyweight world record." More people need to read this, and by "more people," we mean everyone. We need to take action and pressure brands to adopt sustainable practices.  

The January 2, 2025, Kantamanto Market Fire  

A recent CBC News article reported how the fire turned 8,000 plus stalls into dust, impacting almost 10,000 workers in Kantamanto. The article also specifies that designers, organizations, and founders like Yayra Agbofah, the founder of The Revival, an upcycling non-profit organization in Ghana, are calling out brands to take responsibility and demanding accountability, because most of the clothes in the market are from brands from the U.S., Canada, and Europe.  

Yayra Agbofah – Founder of The Revival

Yayra Agbofah, an entrepreneur, sustainable advocate, and speaker for change, is the founder of the non-profit organization The Revival in Ghana. This community-led organization upcycles discarded clothes into art and fashion. Pushing for change on global platforms, Yayra questions the unsustainable fashion models responsible for the increasing global clothing waste.

In his TEDxAccra talk in 2021, he spoke about how 40,000 tonnes of secondhand clothing are shipped into Ghana every year, way more than it can handle and how fast fashion has affected the country and the environment.    

(Image credit: The Revival by Yayra Agbofah) 

Where's the Accountability?

Yayra Agbofah, among many others, questions the accountability of fashion brands that mass-produce and push the "use and throw" model, which ends up in dumps. If this isn’t a warning and a call to action, then what would it take to bring awareness and avoid the highly questionable overconsumption models adopted by fast fashion?  

Catastrophes like these can’t be just a one-day news story. They shouldn’t disappear into thin air and go back to the regular loop of take, make, and dispose—again and again.  

When will this STOP? How can we show our displeasure?

As individuals, we can make small changes that have a big impact. But what does that mean? Say NO to fast fashion. Say NO to anything that is mass-produced.  

Well, it can’t be that easy, right? It's a yes and no.  

Yes, it’s doable with realisation and a mindset shift. But no, it’s definitely not an overnight switch - it’s a journey towards addressing a bigger issue.  

Start slow. Make your purchases mindful, step by step, following the mantra "Less is More," and learn the real cost behind those cheap prices—it comes at the expense of the planet's resources and human labour. Talk to a friend, spread the message, and keep the conversation going and keep spreading the word. 

Alternatives: Try swapping, upcycling, and choosing ethically produced items (products that respect resources, involve slower production, and honour artisans). We can't stress enough on the fact that the most sustainable products in the world are the ones in your home, the ones you already own, so let's practice reuse and repurpose.

It’s time to reflect and not sideline the mountains of waste with unbelievable environmental impact filling up landfills and oceans, affecting marine life. We need to take action and call out brands that follow unethical practices leading to overconsumption.  

We’ll end with one question by asking - If not now, then when?