The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has criticised the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) regarding its over 1,000 containers of imported electrical cables, which have gone unaccounted for.

The Association described the development of importing those cables as “most unfortunate” and potentially illegal under Ghana’s local content laws.

AGI expressed deep worry about the ballooning rumours that have circulated for over a year regarding massive, unwarranted imports of materials, particularly aluminium conductors, by ECG, a state institution already drowning in debt.

“For a state institution that is already saddled with huge debts, this is most unfortunate,” the AGI said, while acknowledging the ongoing efforts of the Minister of Energy in addressing the issue.

The statement, signed by AGI CEO Seth Twum-Akwaboah and issued on April 5, 2025, decried the breach of the Local Content and Local Participation in Electricity Supply Industry Regulations, 2017 (L.I. 2354), which was enacted to boost local industry.

AGI asserts that Ghana now has the full capacity to produce aluminium conductors locally—100% of the country’s needs—with raw materials sourced directly from VALCO, making these massive imports both unnecessary and unlawful.

“It is sad to note that our local manufacturers of aluminium conductors, who continue to create jobs, are owed huge sums of money, yet importers are promptly paid,” AGI lamented, stressing the gross unfairness in the current payment structure.

“Importing such huge volumes breaches L.I. 2354.”

AGI warned that if Ghana fails to rigorously enforce its local content policy, its dream of industrialisation will remain just that—a dream.

“Without rigorous enforcement of significant local content as a strategic option to accelerate economic growth, Ghana’s quest for industrialization cannot be achieved.”

AGI praised ECG’s earlier efforts in encouraging the establishment of local industries for manufacturing aluminium conductors, treating wooden poles, and assembling meters and transformers.

The group stressed that these initiatives had created thousands of jobs and fostered a model of local vertical integration that could have been a national blueprint.

However, the new wave of large-scale imports threatens to unravel years of progress.

AGI called on the Minister of Energy and Green Transition to act decisively by strengthening public financial management systems, investigating all imports that violate L.I. 2354, and rejecting responsibility for “illegal contracts.”

Specifically, the AGI demanded that internal controls be tightened to ensure compliance, supported by frequent audits, all illegal imports be probed and nullified and local manufacturers, currently owed vast sums, be paid promptly and prioritized just like local power generators.

The group also drew a firm line between genuine local content producers and businesses that merely import finished products, stating clearly: “Local suppliers who merely import finished items do not qualify to be classified as local content suppliers.”

AGI says it is ready to engage and support the government on the matter but awaits decisive action on what it calls a “critical national issue.”