Trade Minister appeals for support for Data Cement

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen has appealed to Ghanaians to support Dzata Cement Limited and also commended the Founder, Ibrahim Mahama, for pumping over 100 million-dollar investment in the cement industry in Ghana.

“I’m appealing to Ghanaians to support the factory. It’s in line with the vision of President Akufo-Addo in helping indigenous entrepreneurs. Let’s support the first ever wholly Ghanaian owned cement factory. It’s the success story of Ghanaian entrepreneurship”. Mr Kyerematen said on Monday when he paid a working visit to the plant of Dzata Cement, the first ever wholly Ghanaian owned cement production factory in Ghana.

The visit was to enable him to have first-hand information on the cement-producing plant and the progress of work so far.

Mr. Kyerematen, accompanied by a team from Ministry of Trade and Industry was welcomed to the factory by the Managing Director of Dzata Cement, Mr. Nana Philip Archer and the management of the factory.

Mr. Kyerematen was conducted round the facility in Tema on Monday, May 10, 2021. The visit was to enable him have first hand information on the cement producing plant, located on a 10-acre land near the Tema Port.

Addressing the management and staff of Dzata Cement, Mr Kyerematen applauded them for building an eco friendly factory. He also appealed to Ghanaians to support the factory because it’s a success story of Ghanaian entrepreneurship.

The Minister said he was highly impressed by the fact that the company is led and run by a Ghanaian management team.

He encouraged the management of the Company to as much as possible use local raw materials to create sustainable job opportunities for Ghanaians.

Mr. Kyeremanten encouraged the company’s leadership to take advantage of opportunities the ECOWAS and AfCFTA markets offered to develop and grow the company while contributing to the Ghanaian economy.

He said the government very much appreciated the importance of foreign investment capital but there was no evidence of any country anywhere in the world that had been able to achieve quality growth without supporting their indigenous entrepreneurs.

“That is why l think this particular investment should pave the way for investments in industries which otherwise have been dominated only by foreign companies,” he added.

The plant has an installed capacity of two million tons annually and will be increased to three million tons when all the phases are operationalized.

Dzata Cement, is projecting to produce about three million tonnes of cement for the Ghanaian and African markets when fully operational.