Akufo-Addo commissions US$80 million tile factory, pledges to halt decline of cedi

President Akufo-Addo is anxious about the depreciation of the cedi against the American dollar.

The cedi has seen a 8.6% fall against the dollar suffering one of its steepest falls compared to about hundred other currencies.

According to President Akufo-Addo, he is aware of the discomfort the cedi fall is giving players in business circles and the population assuring all effort is being made to arrest the slide.

He noted despite the weakened state of the currency, some successes have been chalked in the financial space by his government including ranking high on the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index as well as having a favorable monetary rate. The president was optimistic that with the volume of work done by his team to restructure the economy, the gains will soon be manifest for all to see. The cedi begun the year on a 4.82 note against the dollar rising to 5.46.

The president touched on the cedi’s weakened state when he commissioned the Fujian Sentuo Ceramic Tile Factory in the Tema Heavy Industrial Area.

He was particularly delighted that about ninety percent (90%) of raw materials needed by the factory is sourced locally from the Western and Central regions adding the US$80 million Fujian Sentuo Ceramic Tile Factory will significantly bolster the economy.

The facility it’s emerged employs 1,300 Ghanaians with capacity to employ 5,000.

Managing Director of the Fujian Sentuo Ceramic Tile Foctory, Xu Ning Quan submitted as recent as a year ago, nearly all the tiles used in the construction industry in Ghana were imported from China, Europe and the US despite 80% of the raw materials needed for tile production are available here abundantly.

“The purpose for setting up this project is to take advantage of the situation. The varied benefits of producing wall and floor tiles locally are substantial and include import substitution and value addition” Xu Ning Quan concluded.