Industrial players lament slow growth

Manufacturing stakeholders pointed out that despite the industry growth rate recorded at 6.8 in the first quarter of 2024, the growth of the manufacturing sector is still sluggish.

The latest figures from the Ghana Statistics Service show that the industrial sector grew at 6.8% compared to 3.3% recorded in the first quarter of 2023.

According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have grown by 4.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024.

Compared to the fourth quarter (October to December 2023) of last year, the economy grew by 1.2%.

According to the GSS, this growth was driven by mining and quarrying, which contributed 12.9%, information and communication 17.9%, crops 4.3%, construction 8.2% and accommodation and food services activities 9.4%.

The growth of the industrial sector was 6.8 percent. compared to 3.3 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2023.

However, manufacturing players say that growth in this sector is still sluggish.

Mark Badu-Aboagye, CEO of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, provides some insight into why the manufacturing sector is not seeing the expected growth.

He said: “It is good that we have seen growth in the industrial sector. If we look at the sub-sectors that contributed to the growth, we realize that mining contributed about 12.9 percent and construction contributed about 8 percent, which is quite good, at least these sectors are doing well.”

“However, my concern is the development of the manufacturing sector. If you look at the data for last year and this year, you will realize that the manufacturing sector is not performing as well as expected and this is a sector that we should make every effort to see a consistent increase in growth.

Tsonam Akpeloo, the Accra regional president of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), has stressed the urgent need for government to address the issue of cedi depreciation to accelerate industrial development.

“If you observe, you will realize that most of our factories have been closing for some time and some are actually relocating. There has been a trend that some of these large factories will rather close their production facilities and import products from sister countries abroad and sell them in the market as if they were manufactured here.