Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia (first left) tours Tropical Cable facility
The Vice-President, Mahamudu Bawumia, has re-echoed the government’s commitment to empowering local industries to get them ready for the emergence of what he calls a new global architecture.
Speaking at the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Tropical Cable and Conductor Limited in Tema on Wednesday, he said the ongoing global economic crisis would bring about a new phenomenon, where countries would no longer have to depend much on external products and services, but depend on their local industries.
He, therefore, called for a rethink, and the offering of more support to local Ghanaian industries to empower them and become as successful as Tropical Cables to be internationally competitive.
“The ongoing global economic crisis, which is the result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, will bring about a new global architecture, where countries will have to be more dependent on themselves,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“If we are going to succeed in this new global architecture we have to support our local industries to succeed and that is what other countries are going to do. So, there has to be a rethinking of the policy environment; what can we do to empower our local industries. We don’t know when this war between Russia and Ukraine will end but it will end, even if it is five years, it will end,” he said.
“But we have to be prepared for the new emerging global architecture and we can only be prepared for it if we are empowering our local industries to produce and to compete globally,” the Vice-President added.
Industrialisation vision
The Vice-President stressed that the Akufo-Addo government’s industrialisation agenda, which was initiated in 2017 before the current global crisis struck, could not have been done at a better time, as it fits into the agenda to boost local industries, be self-reliant, create jobs for the youth and also boost the economy.
“…At the heart of the 1D1F concept lies the government’s firm determination to transform the Ghanaian economy from one known as a supplier of raw materials to the international market, supplying foreign industries with our natural resources to the detriment of our locally-based ones, to one that feeds local value-enhancing entities in the country,” he said.
The Vice-President added, “this is why our government in 2019 launched the Ghana Beyond Aid programme, with the overriding objective of adding value to our raw materials at source.”
25 years of TCCL excellence
Congratulating Tropical Cable on its 25th anniversary, Dr. Bawumia expressed joy that an indigenous company, which started on a modest note and went through the challenges of industrialisation, had grown to be an industry leader and has also become globally competitive.
“Twenty-five years in the life of any business is certainly worth celebrating but if one appreciates the unique challenges of the manufacturing sector, then the significance of this achievement stands out even more,” he indicated.
“I am sure that, 25 years ago the scale of what we see here today was probably difficult to imagine but due diligence, discipline and innovation, and hard work, have paid off and propelled you to sit at the top of your industry, serving power utilities, the real estate and construction sectors, the mining sector, and so on, with internationally certified cables and conductors,” Dr. Bawumia
“As a nation, we are indeed proud to have an indigenous company like Tropical Cable. Its achievements over the years have given meaning to the belief that this nation is capable of producing and sustaining industrial excellence,” he pointed out.
At the ceremony, the Vice-President also launched Tropical Cable’s CAT-6 cable, which is the first certified CAT-6 cable to be manufactured in Ghana.
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