Why African Prints are called “Ankara”

In 2019 we visited Tex Styles, Ghana’s first textile factory, established in the port city of Tema in 1966.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Stephen Badu, the Marketing Director for GTP, one of top brands in the country.

He has worked for the textile company for decades and shared his version of the origin of the term “Ankara.”

Makola Market | Accra, Ghana

According to Mr. Badu, the word “Ankara” was used by Nigerian tradesmen to refer to “Accra,” Ghana’s capital. These tradesmen would travel back and forth to Accra to source fabric, since Accra was the main hub for African prints at the time.

This explanation of the term Ankara sounds reasonable to us, what do you think? Growing up in a Ghanaian household, we never used the term Ankara. Prints were called “ntoma,” which means “cloth” in the Akan language, Twi.

What do you call African prints in your community?