Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama
Shortly after a successful master plan validation review by the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC) in Accra on Wednesday, an excited Board Chairman, Farouk Aliu Mahama, has dangled the prospects of the iron and steel project on the country’s fortunes.
To this end, the young man who is also the MP for the Yendi constituency, has given the assurance that GIISDEC, under his leadership and management, is poised to provide strategic direction and the needed dedication to birth a vibrant integrated iron and steel industry in Ghana.
The dream for a real integrated iron and steel industry in the country has for long been on the horizon, he said, adding that lessons learnt have informed the need for the use of different templates to bring the project into fruition.
“We are poised to define our focus and chart a roadmap to achieving the President’s vision of an Integrated Iron and Steel Industry,” he said after the maiden master plan review deliberation in Accra.
The two-day deliberation touched on mining, refinery, smelting and the downstream segments on iron and steel production, four areas which are critical towards the creation of an iron and steel industry.
“This master plan will enhance and enrich our collaboration with our stakeholders to develop critical infrastructures like port and railway infrastructure, to enable transportation of iron, steel and other bulk materials, adequate power, and ensure best environmental practices,” he said.
When all is done about the master plan, the document, the roadmap to guide the project managers will be unveiled to Ghanaians by President Akufo-Addo and the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama, while acknowledging the role played by his predecessors, said the new board under his leadership and management would build on the foundation laid by them for the creation of a vibrant integrated iron and steel industry in the country. He added that this “is a national agenda requiring the input and collaboration from all to make history.”
His team, he announced with relish, was five months ahead of the set timeline set for the development of the master plan.
He attributed the feat to his determination to work together with his board members, management, staff and stakeholders to get the masterplan ready before the end of 2022.
The master plan will offer technical guidance and direction on every step that GIISDEC will take for the development of the entire iron and steel value chain to boost the Ghanaian economy.
“If anyone ever doubted the realisation of the vision of the President to build a thriving integrated iron and steel industry, let him look no further than this key project and others GIISDEC is undertaking,” he said.
GIISDEC, he went on, has become a key component of government’s industrialisation and transformation agenda, and has as a matter of necessity started building partnership with the private sector to attract significant investment into the industry.
He stated that global trends indicate growing demand for iron and its related artifacts, a reality which he added “enforces our resolve to make Ghana the iron and steel hub in Africa.”
Some of the major challenges, he identified however, are environmental concerns, transportation bottlenecks, high-energy intensive processes in steel production, and the need to develop clean alternatives in terms of energy solutions.
“We shall work together to address these challenges as prescribed by the master plan nonetheless,” he said confidently.
By A.R. Gomda