A non-governmental organization known as the OR Foundation has confirmed receiving an amount of $15 million from the Shein Company, with part of the funds used for fire relief efforts.
The admission was made today when the founders of the foundation, Branson Skinner and Liz Ricketts—who are a couple—visited Kantamanto to interact with traders.
For over a decade, the Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association has been at odds with publications by the OR Foundation, which claim that Ghana has become a dumping ground for used clothing—a situation the foundation links to flooding in the country.
The Used Clothing Dealers Association has repeatedly debunked these claims, accusing the OR Foundation of making false publications to secure funding from the European Union for its own purposes. They allege that the foundation receives $15 million from Shein and supports a manufacturing company in shipping pre-made clothes into the country.
The association further argues that the OR Foundation’s publications are aimed at collapsing the used clothing business in Ghana to benefit Shein.
Today’s visit by Branson Skinner and Liz Ricketts to Kantamanto—a well-known hub for the used clothing trade—was part of efforts to engage directly with the trading community.
During the interaction, Mrs. Liz Ricketts confirmed that they received a grant of $15 million from Shein, but clarified that the money was not intended to undermine the used clothing industry. She stated that some of the funds were directed toward fire relief efforts.
“First of all, we did not receive $15 million at once. It is $5 million per year for three years,” she explained.
Responding to allegations that the foundation was working with Shein for business purposes, she said, “I want to be very clear—this is a grant. We are an NGO and we are not paid to do business with Shein. In fact, we do not agree with Shein’s business model.”
According to her, Shein pays millions of dollars in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees to France, none of which benefits Ghana. However, part of the OR Foundation’s funding from the European Union has been used to support the Kantamanto community.
Meanwhile, a trader at Kantamanto, Mr. Aikins Boakye Mensah, questioned why an NGO would make such claims about Ghana and receive such a significant amount of money to address biodiversity concerns on behalf of the country.
He argued that if such claims were valid, it should have been the responsibility of the state, not a private entity, to address them.
He has called on the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to investigate the OR Foundation’s claims and ascertain the truth behind the funding and its intended use.
