The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Seth Twum-Akwaboah, has said Ghanaian manufacturers have the capacity to produce quality goods and compete globally, but persistent challenges continue to limit the growth of local industries.
He said the success of local ceramic manufacturers demonstrates that Ghanaian companies can compete internationally when production costs are reduced and businesses have access to the necessary infrastructure and inputs.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Quarterly Economic Review on Ghana’s economic performance, progress, risks and outlook on Thursday, July 9, 2026, Mr Twum-Akwaboah cited local tile manufacturers as an example of businesses that have expanded into international markets despite challenges in the domestic environment.
“We have, for example, a tile factory here in Ghana, one of our members, that is exporting even to the US and Europe, and yet we are buying tiles from Italy,” he said.
He mentioned Twyford and other ceramic companies as examples of manufacturers that have improved competitiveness through access to reliable inputs.
“They have been able to do so because, in fact, the ceramic industry has a certain advantage. They have an arrangement with Ghana Gas; they set up a plant to get gas directly from their source. So it reduces their cost of production,” he said.
Mr Twum-Akwaboah stressed that improving the business environment and reducing production costs would enable more Ghanaian companies to expand exports.
“And that’s the point we’ve been making, that if we make the business environment good and reduce the cost of production, we can actually export,” he added.
He said Ghana has significant export potential but has not fully benefited from global opportunities due to weaknesses in domestic value chains and the high cost of doing business.
“There’s so much export potential. But I can say that we haven’t been able to harness the potential fully because our value chains are still not working that well. Our cost of production is relatively high,” he said.
