Stakeholders in the mining sector, as part of efforts to push for more local content in production, are advocating for the use of locally-made electrical cables in the industry.
It is for this reason that a set of new standards has been launched for the use of electrical cables in the mining industry.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr. Sulemanu Koney, outlined the importance of harmonised national standards for electrical cable production in the mining sector.
“You have equipment coming from various jurisdictions and they would always come with electric cables and their standards. That is why we thought it wise to have our own indigenous standards such that if mining companies and other multinational firms want to go and buy standards, they would have to quote the national standards. Once they are able to do that, the cable manufacturing firms should be in a position to actually produce them at an economic price,” he said to Citi Business News on the sidelines of the launch of the Electrical Cables Standards for the mining industry.
“Because I think the unfortunate problem we have is that if you have more disparate listing of standards, the cable manufacturing firms are not able to produce economically. So if you have a harmonized national standard, then you know that even if you’re able to produce the minimum order, which will be economical for you, then companies will come and buy,” he assessed.
The Director-General of the Ghana Standards Authority, Professor Alex Dodoo, also highlighted the need for a reduction in the importation of electrical cables in the mining sector.
He stated, “In relation to the production of mining cables, there’s a specific local content L.I. that most of them should come from Ghana unless there is none.”
“With these standards being established and with our domestic suppliers or manufacturers demonstrating the capacity to produce, we have no choice but to ensure that in our enforcement activities, so far as imports are concerned, if these products are being produced locally and are meeting Ghanaian requirements, there is no reason whatsoever that they should be imported.”
