Nine-member GIISDEC board takes office

The board chairman of the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Company (GIISDEC), Farouk Aliu Mahama, has given Ghanaians his assurance that the newly constituted board will spearhead the growth of the country’s iron and steel industry by harnessing the sector’s huge economic prospects.

Mahama, who is also the MP for Yendi, said the board will also spearhead proper management of iron ore deposits in Ghana to stimulate an increase in foreign direct investment.

He made these comments at the swearing-in of the GIISDEC board at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in Accra.

Eight other technocrats, drawn from other government institutions and agencies, have joined him to constitute the new GIISDEC board.

They include Kwabena Bonsu Fordwor, chief executive officer of GIISDEC, George Mireku Duker (representing the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources/MLNR), Michael Okyere Baafi from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Martin Kwaku Ayisi, representing the Minerals Commission.

Also on the board are Kay F Amoah Jnr (Esq), Ernest Kusi and Madam Hanifa Yahaya (Esq), all presidential nominees.

At the brief swearing-in ceremony, held in the ministry’s conference room yesterday, board members took the oaths of office, allegiance and secrecy.

After the swearing-in ceremony, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, charged the chairman and members of the new board to work hard to ensure that the corporation achieves its objectives.

Farouk Aliu Mahama

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources said that President Akufo-Addo, right from the inception of his government, had attached great importance to the corporation. Expectations of GIISDEC are high, he added.

“This corporation is important, predominantly because one of the most fundamental pillars on which we can anchor the development of the country is the efficient exploitation of our iron and steel,” Jinapor said.

GIISDEC, he stressed, must be fit for purpose “if we are going to build the ambitions of the government in the railway, automobile and other industries that depend mainly on the production of steel”.

Expressing confidence in the new board, the minister said, “This team should be able to deliver on the goals we have set for ourselves by virtue of the calibre of personalities therein. I believe they have the competencies and abilities to deliver on their mandate.”

In his remarks, the chairman of the new GIISDEC board, Farouk Aliu Mahama, conveyed the gratitude of board members to President Akufo-Addo and the government for the faith reposed in them.

With support from the government, stakeholders and allied agencies, he said: “We will build on what has been achieved so far, inject more vigour and push further the frontiers of the industry.”

Mineral estimation

Mahama said the new board would hit the ground running by embarking on a mineral resource estimation of Ghana’s iron ore deposit across the country.

“Strategic master and business plans and calculated road shows,” the chairman said, “will enable us to provide a platform to attract vital investments that will drive economic improvement, job creation and sustainable value creation in the iron and steel industry for all stakeholders along the chain.”

These, he said, were projected to be achieved by the end of 2022.