Advertisement
Tropical Cable wins AGI award
TROPICAL Cable and Conductor
Limited (TCCL) has been adjudged the Best Manufacturing Company in the
Electrical and Electronics sector by the Association of Ghana Industries
(AGI) in its maiden National Industrial Awards. TCCL came up tops in
that sector after a team of experts detailed by the AGI award’s
committee conducted assessments of industrial manufacturers in the
sector in various areas including their financial records, good
corporate governance structures and production levels.
Tropical Cable
and Conductor Ltd started operations in 1998, having been incorporated
the previous year, to manufacture overhead conductors and a wide range
of insulated cables for both electrical and telecommunication use,
locally and for export.
The company is ISO 9001-2000 standard
Certified and currently has capacity to produce about 6,000 tonnes of
cables and conductors a year. It supplies cables to Volta River
Authority (VRA), the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), Electricity Company of
Ghana (ECG), the Energy Ministry, mining companies, real estate
developers, electrical contractors and the general public.
Commenting
on the award, the Managing Director of Tropical Cable and Conductor
Ltd, Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, said “For us, this is recognition of the fact
that as a Ghanaian company, we are making impact in an area where not
many manufacturing companies venture into. And coming from AGI, it’s
even more encouraging.”
“This award should also serve as a spur for
our efforts in the West African sub-region. We dedicate this to our
workers. I also want to say ‘thank you’ to our distributors and
customers who continue to keep faith with us.” Mr Oteng-Gyasi and
management of TCCL believe that the company’s continued focus on
uncompromising quality, which the company does not sacrifice for quicker
sales, as its priority is to offer value for money to its clients and
patrons.
“At TCCL, our primary focus is to give value for money and
we’re always bent on not sacrificing quality for financial gains or
anything since electricity is a fundamental part of modern living.
Electricity is useful but can be dangerous. Therefore, we believe
quality and the use of appropriate standards are paramount,” Mr
Oteng-Gyasi added.
PRODUCTION CAPACITY
TCCL has developed a robust
documentation framework to cover all its processes from purchasing of
raw materials, processing stages including production and stores,
quality control, and human resource to marketing under the ISO standard. Recently,
Tropical Cable and Conductor Ltd increased its production capacity to
6,000 tonnes per annum of various products but only about 60 per cent of
this installed capacity is so far being utilised because of unbridled
importation of cables which, although, cannot stand the quality of TCCL
though.
“Our general attitude as Ghanaians also needs to change for
us to look at products made-in-Ghana. We need to have more faith in
ourselves and ability to do things and this will greatly enhance the
local manufacturing sector,” Mr Oteng-Gyasi said.
TCCL is part of the
local cable manufacturing team of three that is implementing a credit
line of GH¢80 million which the local companies arranged to meet
government supplies. The company believes that the initiative is only a
small step that should be enhanced and replicated across sectors by
whichever president comes into power next year.
MARKETS AND AWARDS
The
company exports its products to several countries in the sub-region
such as Nigeria, Liberia, Togo, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone.
A
member of the Ghana Club 100, TCCL has won several awards including the
CIMG Manufacturing Company of the Year Award, the National Quality
Awards, and the Ghana Standards Board Award for Quality.
GOING FORWARD
TCCL
is joining hands with other industry players in discussing
collaborations with some expatriate companies for the manufacture of
‘unbilical cables’ for the oil industry. An unbilical cable is an
assemblage of various cables and pipes together that oil companies use
to serve the wells.
Since the oil and gas sector is a catalyst for
development, TCCL plans to open its own distribution depot at Takoradi
by the close of the first quarter of next year to serve the downstream
market and real estate property such as warehouses, residential and
commercials buildings. GB
Story by Samuel Doe Ablordeppey