President Mahama Announces Local Content Push, Mandatory Government Procurement of Ghanaian Products
President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to amend the Procurement Act to make it mandatory for government agencies, schools and hospitals to buy Ghanaian-made products on a list to be published annually by the Ghana Standards Authority.
The President made the announcement at the commissioning of the NorthShore Apparel Hub in the Northern Region on Friday
He said the Ghana Standards Authority will compile a schedule of all licensed Ghanaian products along with recommended prices, and that any public institution seeking to procure an item on the list would be required to buy it locally rather than import it.
“This will remove the need for competitive tender, if the company produces it, you must buy it instead of importing,” he said.
President Mahama stated that the policy would extend to the local production of uniforms, boots and protective equipment currently imported from abroad, noting that he took note of a remark by the NorthShore CEO on local uniform production.
“I believe its time has come. We need to be firm and insist on it now,” he said.
He recalled that his previous administration revamped the Kumasi Shoe Factory through a public-private partnership, which produced quality boots for the army, but said patronage suffered because buyers preferred imported alternatives from China despite the quality of the local product.
“We can produce our own uniforms, boots and protective equipment instead of depending on imports,” he said.
The President said the policy forms part of a broader industrialisation drive that includes incentives under the Free Zones programme, tax and duty exemptions for manufacturers, and government’s 24-hour economy initiative.
He cited NorthShore, which has already created about 2,000 jobs and exports most of its output, as an example of the kind of local industrial capacity the procurement policy is intended to support and expand.
He also referenced ongoing efforts to recover funds from Ghana Exim Bank, created in 2016 to finance projects such as NorthShore, saying that after his previous term in office, access to the facility had been extended to politically connected individuals who did not repay the funds.
“Instead, the politically well-connected had access, with no intention of repaying the money,” he said, adding that the bank’s current leadership, under Sylvester Mensah, is pursuing recovery of the money, and that government has redirected the bank’s focus towards impactful financing for projects that create jobs for young people.
Richard. Aniagyei, ISD
