B5 Plus Ghana Limited, a steel manufacturing company that imports tons of iron ore through the Ports of Tema, has undertaken a laudable initiative by constructing a manufacturing plant at Lorpklenu in the Ningo-Prampram district.
B5 Plus, with a conglomerate of companies across West Africa and its headquarters in Ghana is geared to serve the industrial and mining sector with a wide range of iron and steel products.
The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah, during a sod cutting ceremony to commission a new steel factory, expressed confidence that, when production commences fully, it would relieve government of the expense in importing steel products into the country.
“Even if this country would be able to produce 50,000 metric tons a year, it has taken that burden of government to go out there to look for dollar or foreign exchange to go and import these products into the country. For us, that is what we look for as an incentive or an advantage into 1District 1Factory,” the Minister intimated.
The Chief Executive Officer of B5 Plus, Mike Thakwani said the commissioning of the factory is a demonstration of Government’s One District One factory initiative.
“We really appreciate Our Excellency’s 1 District 1 Factory policy. We are in line with that. We look forward that we will receive all the support from the Government and from all the other institutions. We are required to make this project a big success”.
He revealed that, the company is poised to give employment to 3000 Ghanaians and contribute tremendously to the revenue of the country.
Sampson Asaki, Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, expressed pleasure in the opening of this new factory and hoped that it would surmount the imbalance export suffers to import in the steel business.
“I am happy that in the next few years to come we will no longer be importing steel into this country, but we will have this *Edifix* to produce, package, and even export to other African countries and beyond to bring more forex to this country that can control our cedi depreciation,” he said.