Production sector needs massive boost - Oteng-Gyasi

Economist and Managing Director of Tropical Cables and Conductors (TCCL) Tony Oteng-Gyasi says government and private economic actors must work to create a vibrant and sustainable production sector to drive national socio-economic growth.

He has also called on the general public, including government agencies, to patronise locally-made components for infrastructural projects as a way of helping indigenous companies expand to create more jobs.

Mr. Oteng-Gyasi said there is no reason for Ghana to suffer unemployment when there is an abundance of resources to develop the country, and that it behoves government to come out with policies that will give people, especially local entrepreneurs, the opportunity to grow and sustain their businesses.

"At this stage of national development, we have no business crying about unemployment; we have the natural resources to grow the economy. We must focus on growing the production sector, backed by a conscious effort on the part of Ghanaians to patronise locally-manufactured goods," he said.

The former AGI president was speaking when he hosted 10 senior engineers from the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO) at Tropical Cables and Conductors as part of efforts to increase awareness of the company’s products and operations within the energy sector.

The engineers, drawn from the Northern, Brong Ahafo, Upper East and Upper West Regions of the country, were taken on a tour of the production halls and testing-laboratory to expose them to the various manufacturing processes and machinery used in production.

Quality Manager of the company Mrs. Irina Odame, who took the engineers through a presentation on the company's overhead line conductors --including All Aluminium Conductors (AAC), All Aluminium Alloy Conductors (AAAC), Aluminium Conductors Steel Reinforced (ACSR) and Aerial Bundled Conductors (ABC) -- used for power transmission and distribution, said TCCL places a premium on quality.

"TCCL puts a premium on quality to meet the expectations of clients.We have a robust assurance system covering inspection, monitoring and testing to ensure conformity of products to specified requirements; from receipt of raw materials to products dispatched to the customer,” she said.

The resource person and educator for TCCL, Mr. Appiagyei Kwame Torto, said to promote safety and quality in the country the company has begun a sensitisation programme with contractors, engineers and the general public at regional, metropolitan and district levels. The programme is also a demonstration of the company’s corporate social responsibility.

He said this has become necessary because no matter the quality of a product, poor workmanship and use of wrong combinations of products could compromise safety.

The leader of the NEDCO delegation and a maintenance engineer, Mr. Eugene Addo, expressed appreciation to TCCL for the opportunity to learn from it and promised that his company will promote made-in-Ghana products