Manufacturers are longing for the establishment of a Raw
Material Council to, among other things, regulate and maintain standards of the
raw materials fed to industry.
The council, the manufacturers said, would also provide information that
enables government to formulate appropriate policies for domestic raw materials
exploitation, development, utilisation and investment- and most importantly,
must be private sector-led, just as in other jurisdictions like Nigeria and
Malaysia.
Vice-Chair of the Agric Sector at the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI),
William Agyei-Manu, told the B&FT in Accra that such a council would also
work to reduce the dependence and expenditure on raw material imports; conserve
foreign currency; and increase productivity, capacity utilisation, as well as
sustainable industrial growth and development.
Additionally, it will serve the private sector interests by facilitating the
sourcing, development, and utilisation of domestic raw materials in
manufacturing.
He said: “Most of the issues in the private sector or industry have to do with
raw materials; so, the proposition for a Raw Material Council is to ensure that
we bring on board both the public and private sectors to understand the basic
quality requirements, as well as technical and financial requirements of
industry.
“So, basically, it should be private sector-driven, not the normal bureaucratic
government establishment. So that is exactly what we are calling for,” he
added.
Asked what consequences industry currently faces as a result of the country not
having a raw material council, Mr. Agyei-Manu mentioned poor quality, standards
and specifications as some of the challenges.
He reiterated that the council must be purely private sector-led, but should be
regulated just like in Nigeria, Malaysia and Philadelphia.
“There are other models we could look at to know which one can best fit our
situation. But the most important thing is to get the industry players from
different sectors to address the issues head-on,” he noted.
thebft
