President John Dramani Mahama has cut the sod for the construction of a $ 250 million float glass manufacturing facility at Aboadze in the Shama District of the Western Region.

The first Phase of the Float Glass Factory would have a capacity production of 600 tons per day, with Phase two adding another 800 tons per day, bringing the total capacity to 1,400 tons per day.

The project which would be executed in two phases, would generate approximately 2,182 direct jobs.

There would be 2,182 jobs during construction with 729 people being employed in building the factories, and 1,453 permanent operational jobs being created.

Speaking at the ceremony, President Mahama said the feat was not merely an expansion of factories, but a policy that Ghana was no longer content to be a consumer and importer economy, and that they were determined to produce, process, manufacture and export.

According to him, the global float glass market was valued at approximately 60 billion US, dollars annually and Ghana must not remain on the margins of this industry.

He announced that the facility has a total investment of USD 250 million, and would rank among the largest industrial investments in the history of Ghana.

“This project aligns fully with our national industrial strategy and the broader objectives of the 24-hour economic programme”, he emphasised.

Mr Shen Yanchang, Chairman of Twyford Group commended the Government of Ghana for the significant progress made in advancing the microeconomic stability.

He said the 24-hour Economy Authority Law would enable continuous production, increased efficiency and expanded output, thereby enhancing the global competitiveness of made in Ghana products.

Mr Yanchang said the Twyford Group was among the first in the industries to expand into the overseas market across Africa with operations in Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal and many around 20 countries in Africa.

Mr Lorry Li-Wei, Managing Director of the KEDA Ghana Ceramics Ltd indicated that the floating glass factory, with an estimated investment of 250 million US dollars was designed to address the significant gap in local glass production.

He hinted that the construction of phase one was expected to be complete by August next year.

Upon completion, he said the facility would create over 1,500 direct jobs and approximately 3,000 indirect jobs, increasing total employment to nearly 6,000 while, significantly boosting national revenue generation.