Industrial parks under 24-Hour Economy will operate as centres of continuous production and export – President Mahama
Industrial parks being developed under Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme will operate as centres of continuous production and export activity, stimulating investment, encouraging technology transfer, strengthening local supply chains and creating thousands of jobs for young Ghanaians.
President Johnson Dramani Mahama made the declaration at the sod cutting ceremony for the Tema Integrated Industrial Park, where he outlined the role that industrial ecosystems would play in Ghana’s strategy to transform from a raw material exporting economy into a competitive industrial nation.
“Industrial parks such as this will operate within the framework of the 24-Hour Economy, serving as centres of continuous production and export activity. They will stimulate investment, encourage technology transfer, strengthen local supply chains and create thousands of jobs for Ghanaian youth,” President Mahama said.
He said the industrial strategy the administration was pursuing went beyond the construction of factories, describing the goal as the creation of complete industrial ecosystems where infrastructure, energy, technology, logistics, finance and skills development reinforced one another to make Ghana the most competitive destination for industrial production in West Africa.
“The 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme had been designed to unlock Ghana’s productive potential by expanding industrial capacity, increasing exports, creating sustainable employment and positioning the country as West Africa’s preferred destination for manufacturing and logistics,” the President added.
He said the Tema Integrated Industrial Park, spanning 120 hectares in Tema’s heavy industrial area and located adjacent to VALCO and the Port of Tema, was one of the flagship projects through which that vision would be realised, offering manufacturers direct access to transport corridors, energy infrastructure and international shipping routes.
President Mahama also disclosed that the park would also anchor Ghana’s complete aluminium value chain, from bauxite mining and alumina refining through to aluminium fabrication and finished products, creating an integrated industrial cluster that went far beyond assembling factories on available land.
“When completed, the park would generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs, stimulate private investment, nurture a new generation of Ghanaian manufacturers, engineers, technicians, exporters and entrepreneurs, and strengthen Ghana’s position as a gateway to the African Continental Free Trade Area’s market of 1.4 billion people” the President stated.
President Mahama committed to continued government investment in technical education, vocational training and digital skills development to ensure that Ghana’s youth were equipped to take up the opportunities the park and other industrial projects under the 24-Hour Economy would create.
He said industrialisation was no longer optional but an economic necessity, pointing to the example of countries that had transformed their economies through manufacturing, innovation, industrial clusters and integration into global value chains as the model Ghana had chosen to follow.
“The true measure of industrialisation is not the number of factories built but the quality of jobs created, the businesses established and the opportunities made available to future generations,” President Mahama said.
He said the park’s location in Tema was a deliberate nod to the city’s industrial heritage, describing it as conceived by founding President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as the convergence point of manufacturing, maritime trade, energy and infrastructure, and expressing confidence that the Tema Integrated Industrial Park would help restore and complete that founding vision.
“Let Tema once again become the beating heart of Ghana’s industrial renaissance,” President Mahama admonished.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
