Ghana’s cement industry agrees regulation and standardization

In a significant move, cement manufacturers and construction industry stakeholders have agreed to collaborate with the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and government to regulate the industry, ensure quality products, and promote fair pricing.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chamber of Construction Industry, Emmanuel Cherry expressed his appreciation for GSA’s intervention, which aims to bring order and sanity to the industry.

“Collectively, our concern earlier on was the lack of stakeholder engagement and consultations right from the onset which were missing but thankfully, the Ghana Standard Authority has shown leadership by bringing us together. Now that the L. I. has been laid, in as much as we don’t know what exactly the content is all about, we are waiting. We have been promised here by the chairperson of the committee that a copy will be made available for us too, and then they are ever ready to engage us, which is a plus.

He gave the assurance that the industry players had their doors widely opened, and “we welcome this particular open discussion so that we take it one after the other.”

Director-General of the GSA and Chairman of the Cement Manufacturing Development Committee, Prof. Alex Dodoo explained that the motivation behind the sector ministry’s efforts at laying a legislative instrument in Parliament to establish a robust regulatory framework that benefits all stakeholders.

“The law is made to improve efficiency and bring relief, not to punish people or to set companies back. We are a country that needs investments. We are a country that needs money. That is why our regulations should do only two key things, protect consumers and ensure that business is good. Because when business is good, we get more people employed,”  Prof Dodoo maintained.

This development is expected to lead to improved quality, reduced fraud, and enhanced consumer protection in the construction industry.