Nigerian based Verod Capital and Austrian company, Red Bull GmbH have announced an investment in Ghanaian based apparel company, DTRT Apparel Ltd.
Though the investment amount was not disclosed, Skip Richmond, co-Founder and co-CEO of DTRT Apparel said that this investment would afford the company the opportunity to significantly expand its production capacity and capabilities.
DTRT supplies cost-competitive products to major US and EU-based brands via a global network spanning three continents. The company employs over 2,000 people in West Africa, procures textiles from Asiaand exports primarily to the EU and US markets, benefitting from supportive trade arrangements between the US/EU and Ghana.
DTRT Apparel was founded in 2013 by two apparel industry entrepreneurs, Marc Hansult and Skip Richmond, in a joint venture with a renowned Ghanaian fashion entrepreneur, Mrs. Salma Salifu, Managing Director of Dignity DTRT, the company’s manufacturing partner. They founded DTRT with the goal of building a sustainable enterprise that exceeds the typical labor, environmental and employment standards found in the apparel manufacturing industry.
Environmental sustainability is also at the core of the DTRT business model. The business works with suppliers to produce a polyester fabric that requires 80% less water for dyeing than the traditional fabric-dyeing process. DTRT estimates they have saved over 200,000,000 litres of water over the last five years using this fabric. As a small example of its efforts to support their community, the Company utilizes leftover fabric from production for conversion into re-usable sanitary pads that are then provided free-of-charge to lower-income people in the nearby community.
Skip Richmond, co-Founder and co-CEO of DTRT Apparel said: “Given today’s global macro-economics, apparel brands are increasingly looking for cost competitive, socially responsible, long-term manufacturing alternatives outside Asia. This milestone deal is an affirmation of our vision of sustainable apparel manufacturing in Ghana – with the highest production, environmental and labour standards – and affords us the opportunity to significantly expand our production capacity and capabilities to make DTRT Africa’s leading apparel manufacturer. We’re very excited to work with our partners and strategic investors to drive growth and provide our value-added services on a larger scale to current and future customers.”
Danladi Verheijen, Verod Managing Director said: “Verod Capital’s investment in DTRT is predicated on the very rapid growth of the Ghanaian economy, due largely to its political stability, and Ghana’sunique advantages for cost-competitive production. The DTRT team are highly experienced operators who are also 100% committed to improving the lives of West Africans, which aligns with the mission of Verod Capital. We look forward to working with the Founders to build up this business but also to help West Africa become a major hub for apparel manufacturing.”
