By Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, March 01, GNA – The Equipment Design and Fabrication Association of Ghana (EDFAG), a national industry body representing equipment designers, metal fabricators, industrial innovators, and technical artisans across Ghana, has lauded President John Dramani Mahama for the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Mr Ebenezer Kakrah Hammah, the President EDFAG, in a statement said while they acknowledge the Government’s stated commitment to industrialization, youth employment, and skills development, they were compelled to raise serious concerns regarding the continued neglect and under-structuring of the Equipment Design and Fabrication sector in Ghana.
It said the EDFAG was calling for urgent regularization of the Equipment Design and Fabrication Sector.
It said EDFAG advocated policy reform, sector regulation, professional standards, and sustainable industrial development within the equipment design and fabrication ecosystem.
It noted that the Association worked to promote quality assurance, skills development, innovation, and global competitiveness in Ghana’s fabrication industry.
The statement commended the Government’s renewed focus on: Industrial transformation and local production, Technical and Vocational Education, Training (TVET) reforms and Youth employment initiatives and Women’s economic empowerment. It said these priorities aligned with EDFAG’s mission and reflected the right policy direction.
The statement said, however, policy direction without sector regularization would not deliver results.
“Despite repeated commitments to industrial growth, the Equipment Design and Fabrication sector remains largely informal, under-regulated, and under-supported,” it stated.
The statement reiterated that this was critical to agricultural mechanization, small-scale manufacturing, repair and maintenance ecosystems, innovation and prototyping and import substitution.
Declaring that yet, it continues to operate without a clear regulatory framework, standardized certification pathways, equipment safety standards enforcement, dedicated funding windows and recognised industrial classification.
The statement cited that key concerns were the lack of formal recognition; stating that the fabrication sector was still not clearly structured within national industrial policy frameworks, and that without recognition, growth remained stifled. Others were absence of standards and accreditation, limited access to capital, and weak institutional coordination.
It explained that there was no streamlined national pathway for accrediting equipment designers and fabricators and that this undermines quality assurance and limits international competitiveness.
It said fabricators struggle to access structured financing because the sector was not properly categorised within formal economic systems.
The statement said relevant agencies had not sufficiently coordinated efforts to formalize and regulate this strategic sector.
Touching on EDFAG’s strong position, the statement said EDFAG respectfully but firmly called on the Government of Ghana to develop a National Equipment Design and Fabrication Policy Framework and to establish a Sector Regulatory and Standards Authority or Dedicated Desk.
The rest were to integrate fabrication into mainstream industrial and TVET reforms, create a Dedicated Fabrication Development Fund and to strengthen certification and structured apprenticeship systems.
The statement said industrialization could not be achieved through policy rhetoric alone, adding that it required deliberate structuring of foundational sectors such as fabrication and equipment design.
It said Ghana’s industrial transformation agenda would remain incomplete unless the Equipment Design and Fabrication sector is formally recognised, structured, and resourced.
The statement said EDFAG remained ready to collaborate with government, policymakers, and development partners to build a regulated, competitive, and innovation-driven fabrication ecosystem. “The time for strategic action is now,” the statement said.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei