ACCRA, 19 March 2006 — At a colorful ceremony marked by a lively traditional dance, songs and the release of hundreds of red and white balloons, Ghana’s President John Kufuor inaugurated in the Tema Free Zone (TFZ) on Friday a major prefab housing project of Jeddah-based Red Sea Housing Services, setting the stage for Saudi Arabia to become an exporter of non-oil products, with Ghana as the manufacturing base. He also declared open the Accra branch of RSH, a two-story prefabricated office self-contained in all respects — lighting, sewage and furnishing. These facilities are manufactured at the company’s own plant enabling it to provide integrated housing solution to its clients. The president also toured its complex and praised the high quality of workmanship at the plant that has provided job opportunities to 400 Ghanains.
Among those present at the function were Ghana’s Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing Hackman Owusu Agyemang, Minister of Trade and Ministry Alan Kyeremanten, Saudi Ambassador to Ghana Mohamed R. Abu Al-Hamayel, Jamal Al-Dabbagh, vice chairman of the Al-Dabbagh Group, Mark Sumner and Don Sumner of Red Sea Housing Services, members of Parliament and government officials, among others.
RSH’s branch office and factory are located in the Tema Free Zone, 40 km from Accra, amid a verdant landscape. As Sumner, RSH’s general manager, explained earlier, the site was chosen on account of its strategic location in the Free Zone area, access to skilled manpower and cheap raw material, as well as the political stability and economic vibrancy of Ghana, the land of gold.
Speaking on the occasion, President Kufuor paid tributes to RSH for setting up its plant in TFZ and hoped that it would lead to the creation of job opportunities for Ghana nationals and also contribute to its economy by using Ghana as an export base for reaching out to other countries in the region.
In this context, he said that his country would provide an environment that is conducive to overseas investment, as the government was committed to diversifying its economy.
In response to a question, the President told Arab News that Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co. will invest in Ghana’s tourism sector with his decision to set up Ambassador Hotel in Accra. He has also donated $100,000 to support Ghana’s state-sponsored children’s educational programs and $300,000 toward pre-school programs, besides $600,000 to support health and AIDS research, bringing the total to $1 million.
Earlier, Minister Agyemang said the licensing of RSH project in TFZ was in line with the government’s policy to provide affordable housing to the people. He said there was a good scope for overseas investors in Ghana, which needs half a million housing units urgently. He commended RSH for its decision to embark on its expansion program in the country. As a result, the company will set up three production facilities in the near future and provide job opportunities for 1,000 nationals. He added that the company’s ultimate objective was to bring down the cost of housing to $12,500 per unit from its current high level. Describing it as a landmark event, Minister of Trade and Industry Kyeremanten said it would pave the way for the diversification of Ghanaian economy, since coco, the main export item, constitutes 83 percent of Ghana’s foreign exchange earnings. The government, he pointed out, earned a revenue of $800 million from non-traditional exports last year. The RSH presence would lend a further momentum to this drive.