The President addressing the people
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said his government is determined to add value to Ghana’s primary products to improve industrial activities and uplift the living standards of Ghanaians.
“We have to change the nature of our economy. We can’t continue to be producers and exporters of raw materials if we want to bring prosperity to the people,” he stressed.
Cutting the sod for phase two of Keda (Ghana) Ceramics Company Limited also called Twyford Ghana Ceramics located in the Shama District of the Western Region, the President said: “We have to enter the 21st century as an industrial value-adding economy. This will help deal with issues of unemployment, poverty and result in rising income for the ordinary Ghanaian.”
He said the NPP government is committed to creating a new Ghana that is an industrial nation extracting raw materials and processing them within for export and the domestic market.
The President is in the Western Region for a two-day work visit during which he will inspect some ongoing projects by the government and cut sod for the construction of others.
President Akufo-Addo reiterated his government’s commitment to shift focus from taxation to production to boost the economy. He was happy that about 95% of raw materials needs of the company would be sourced locally.
“The operations of the phase one of the factory have seen significant reduction in the importation of tiles by as much as 40%. So the contribution of the company to the country’s industrialization agenda is significant. This is because we are a vibrant industrial climate, robust incentives and regulation regime,” the President stated.
The President performing the sod cutting ceremony
Trade Minister
Minister of Trade and Industries Alan Kyeremanten indicated that the ceramics company was in line with the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative being pursued by the government. He implored the management to look beyond the West African market.
Group Chairman
Y.C. Shen, Group Chairman of SUNDA International, said the ceramics company was set up in Ghana because of the enabling business environment created by the government through the 1D1F initiative. He noted that the dumping of low quality ceramics from Europe into the country is a challenge, as it creates unfair competition.
Chinese Ambassador
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Wang Shi Ting, said China would continue to support the acceleration of Ghana’s industrialization policy by encouraging Chinese businesses to invest here.
The phase two of the company’s expansion project would be completed in September at a cost of about $77.3 million. It would create direct jobs for over 2,000 Ghanaians and 3,000 indirect jobs.
The factory, which is into the production and distribution of tiles, would operate at a designed production capacity of 14.4 million square metres per year with annual sales.
The factory, a subsidiary of Sunda (MU) Holdings Limited, a Chinese company, is a boost to the 1D1F initiative.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Shama