THE STATE OF KUMASI'S 'INDUSTRIAL AREA

The once Industrial enclave of the Ashanti region within the Kumasi metropolis is fast losing its status as the nerve centre of jobs for the people.  

This is due to the collapse of most of the companies in quick succession in the last few years for various reasons.

Background

Industrialization was a key component of the first wholly indigenous government of Ghana led by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. The Ashanti region was not left out in this drive which was meant to create decent jobs for the residents, particularly the youth. 

Asokwa, Ahinsan, Kaase, Atonsu and Kyirapatre were the communities that became what is known as the ‘Industrial Area’ of Ashanti from the early 60s. 

The christening of this enclave as the ‘Industrial Area’ was the people’s appreciation of the numerous state and privately owned companies that were sited there. 

These communities fall within present day Asokwa Constituency which is in the western part of the metropolis from the Accra direction.

 Ahinsan is almost at the geographical centre of this enclave. 

Within the ‘Industrial Area’ were such notable state-owned enterprises such the Jute Factory, Guinness Ghana, the Shoe Factory and the Kumasi Brewery Limited.

 Also located within this industrial enclave are the Coca Cola Bottling Company Limited, the Kumasi Abattoire, many sawmill businesses including the Logs and Lumber Limited popularly called LLL, Africana Foresta Sawmill, A.E. Saoud Company and Naja David Veneer and Plywood Limited. 

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s government established the Jute Factory in the early 60s for the manufacture of jute sacks for the packaging of Ghana’s dried cocoa beans for export. 

The Shoe factory, as the name suggest, was manufacturing footwear for personnel of the security agencies and also for school children.

 In fact it was the Shoe Factory that produced what was known as ‘Boys and Girls’ sandals that was the prescribed footwear for second cycle students in the 1990s. 

The sawmill companies were vibrant because of the abundance of timber resources within the region and beyond. 

THE SOCIAL BENEFITS & THE COLLAPSE

Because of this business enclave, the area was the centre of attraction and envy for people from all walks of life who visited the there either in search of jobs or for tourism purposes. 

Within the last 20 years or less, these once vibrant and job creation avenues have been collapsing in quick succession to the disadvantage of the communities and the people. 

Information gathered by Ashanti Today suggest that these state-owned companies have collapsed for various reasons including the proverbial poor managerial and work attitude of the Ghanaian towards such enterprises. 

The timber companies also do not have the concessions they used to enjoy because they failed to replant the cut trees leading to a depletion of the raw materials.

THE CASE OF AHINSAN

 Ahinsan, one of the communities within the catchment of this Industrial enclave, is geographically in the centre of this enclave. 

Nana Akosua Fobi, the queen mother of this community recalls with nostalgic memory some of the benefits the residents derived from these companies.

 She remembers clearly the many direct and indirect jobs that were created by these public and private companies for mainly hands from the catchment communities. 

According to her, since the start of the collapse of these companies in that quick succession in the last 20 years, the youth have become joblessness with its accompanying negative tendencies. 

Nana Akosu Fobi, flanked by the Gyaasihene of Ahinsan, Nana Mpiani Ababio, lamented that Ahinsan has become very dangerous in recent times due to the increasing rate of theft and hard drug use among the youth and blamed the situation on the lack of jobs for them. 

The Ahinsanhenmaa was not satisfied with the commitment of the companies lack of commitment to the physical social infrastructural development of the community by way of their corporate social responsibility.

 Nana Akosu Fobi said it was only the erstwhile A.E. Saoud Timber company that gifted the town with its Community Centre while the Coca Cola Bottling Company also recently partnered an NGO to provide a public sanitary facility for the community. 

She said the the town could not get the maxim benefit from these companies when they were vibrant because the leaders were not aware of the obligation of companies to commit to corporate social responsibilities to their catchment communities

She has therefore urged the current government to first rebuild the collapsed companies before staring implementation of its ‘One-District- One-Factory’ programme. 

Meanwhile, a wholly owned Ghanaian private company, the Jute Mill Limited, is rehabilitating the Jute Factory following its divestiture in the mid-1990s.