President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has inspected a Technology Solution Centre (TSC) in Kumawu, in the Ashanti Region, which will support Government’s industrialisation agenda, particularly the 1-District-1-Factory initiative.

The Centre, run by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, is a metal-based, light engineering (machining and fabrication) workshop with offices, classrooms, showrooms and conference facilities, and will, amongst others, produce spare parts and repair services for factories in the various districts of the country.

Taking the President on a tour of the facility, on Friday, 11th October, 2019, on the final day of his 3-day tour of the Ashanti Region, the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka Lindsay, and Mr. Kwasi Atta-Antwi, Director of the TSC told President Akufo-Addo that 30 of such centres are being established in the country.

 Five new and larger TSCs are at various stages of completion in Kumawu, Elmina, Hohoe, Dormaa and Savelugu. 21 existing Rural Technological Facilities (RTFs) are also being renovated, retooled and upgraded into TSCs. 4 RTFs in Awutu Senya, Somanya, Gwollu and Suhum have also been adopted and will be renovated, retooled and transformed into TSCs. 

The Kumawu TSC, according to Mr Kwasi Atta-Antwi, “is a $4 million facility, which will provide equipment, machines that will, in turn, produce can produce agro-processing equipment, bolts and nuts to support the factories that are being established under the 1-District-1-Factory initiative.”.

The Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry assured the President that “Next year, you are going to commission a lot of the TSCs. We have so many that are going to be commissioned. We have all the equipment ready in Kumasi. They will be installed here in the next month or two.”

With the country now possessing the capability of making its own industrial machines, President Akufo-Addo described the move as “critical to the industrialisation of our country.”

The equipment and machines to be installed on the workshop floors of the 5 new TSCs include AC/DC Electric Arc welding set, Electric Arc Mobile welding set, heavy-duty hydraulic press, metal sheet power operated rolling machine, profile bending machine, box and pan powered folding machine, metal sheet hydraulic swing-beam shears, spot welding set, oxy-acetylene gas welding set, amongst others.

On the machining floor of the five new TSCs, the following equipment have been procured: centre lathe, shaping machine, universal milling machine, radial arm pillar drilling machine, and a bench drilling machine.