Ghana’s local cement industry is under threat from an import surg

State fiscal or monetary intervention is clearly needed, and quickly. A heavy tariff regime on certain imports will be necessary.

The government will have to come to the aid of local manufacturers in the form of subsidies or tax relief.

Something drastic has to be done to undercut importers, whose activities only go to exacerbate pressures on the local currency, the cedi. Under normal free-market rules, trade in its various shapes and forms should run on even playing fields but the recent unashamedly direct protectionist practices and actions by countries all over the world, including our Nigerian cousins shows that when it comes to push, a shove must precede. If we want to curtail our over reliance on the dollar, we must support local manufacturers in a very big way. How this can be achieved, I reserve the right to stay on the fence and allow those paid for their knowledge in such issues to get on with it.

Thanks from _mansa musa_