The Ghana Chamber of Mines has partnered the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to introduce standards for electric cables for the mining industry.
The move is expected to empower local cable manufacturers to produce to industry standards and will contribute to reducing the amount miners spend importing cables into the country.
This is because, of the US$1.7 million worth of electric cables procured by the mining sector in 2017, US$2.9 million in 2018 and US$2.1 million in 2019, only 34 percent, 56 percent and 42 percent respectively were procured locally.
The rationale for developing these electric cables standards for the domestic cable manufacturing companies, is therefore, to enable them produce quality products to meet industry standards and customer satisfaction and ultimately, increase their share of the domestic mining industry market.
“The locally manufactured electric cables can be competitive in terms of quality and price in the African market. The manufacturing companies must therefore take advantage of this window of opportunity that has been created by the AfCFTA to boost their exports to the African Market. The companies should not hesitate to contact the Ministry for any assistance”, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen said in a speech read on his behalf during the launch of the standards in Accra.
Mr. Kyerematen commended the Ghana Standards Authority, Ghana Chamber of Mines and a National Technical Committee on Electric Cables Standards responsible for developing the local standards and signing a Memorandum of Understanding to further collaborate.
For his part, Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Sulemana Koney, said the development of standards for electric cables for the mining industry is an aspect of a supplier development programme which the Chamber is quite proud of.
“Appropriate and acceptable standards are a prerequisite to trade and business facilitation. It provides assurance that the product is fit for purpose and will perform as expected. For an industry like mining for whom unplanned downtimes are costly, conformity with standards is not negotiable,” he said.
Accordingly, he added that: “The Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Ghana Standards Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding to guide the two organizations in developing standards and align existing standards of mining inputs to meet the requirements of the mining industry.”
The Minerals and Mining (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2020, LI 2431 and its predecessor Legislation, the Minerals and Mining (General) Regulations, 2012, L.I. 2173 have been the primary tools through which Minerals Commission regulates local content in the mining industry.
One of the provisions of these legislations is a requirement for the Commission to publish a local procurement list based upon which mining companies submit their respective Procurement Plans and Reports to the Minerals Commission.
