By Hafsa Obeng
Accra, Oct. 21, GNA – The Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND) GenZs have called on the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Continental Blue Investment (CBI) Ghana Limited and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to disclose progress on environmental and social safeguards for Ghana’s low-carbon cement project.
The group said deadlines for 12 environmental and social commitments agreed upon by CBI Ghana had elapsed, but no public progress update had been released.
“The IFC approved financing of up to $20 million for the project on November 24, 2025, covering a limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) plant in Tema and a clay quarry at Togorme in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region.”
At a press briefing in Accra, Mr Chibeze Ezekiel, Founder and Executive Coordinator of SYND, said they had contacted CBI Ghana in March and July 2026, alongside their partner, Industrious Labs, to seek responses to their concerns but had received no response at the time of publication.
He said, “We support cleaner cement, and we want this project to succeed. But a project financed as a climate solution has to show its work.”
He said communities in Togorme and Tema, as well as workers at the plant, deserved to know whether the commitments made to the IFC had been fulfilled.
The group raised concerns that when the IFC appraised the project, construction of the LC3 plant was already 90 per cent complete, while extraction at the Togorme quarry had begun.
Mr Ezekiel said several safeguards, including an updated management system, a supplementary livelihood restoration plan, a stakeholder engagement plan for the Tema plant and a community grievance mechanism, were scheduled for implementation after work had started.
On climate performance, the group said although LC3 technology could reduce carbon emissions by 40 per cent compared with conventional Portland cement, the project’s emissions analysis indicated a 19 per cent reduction in carbon intensity.
He said the projected average absolute emissions of about 354,590 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually between 2026 and 2032 required further explanation, particularly as the baseline used to calculate the claimed annual reduction of 195,030 tonnes was not sufficiently detailed for independent verification.
The group called for the publication of the emissions baseline, assumptions and methodology before any carbon credits were generated from the project.
On land and livelihoods, he said the quarry covered about 304 acres of community land, affecting 21 families with customary rights who agreed to compensation payable in four instalments over nine years.
Mr Ezekiel said affected groups included crop farmers, about 100 women engaged in pottery who sourced clay from the land, and custodians of shrines on the site.
The group said the IFC had found the livelihood restoration plan only partly aligned with its Performance Standard five and that the extraction area had not been clearly demarcated.
He also cited project documentation indicating that ambient PM2.5 readings exceeded the 24-hour limit on 20 of 28 occasions at two monitoring points in Tema between January 2020 and March 2021.
The SYND GenZs acknowledged that Tema had multiple industrial emission sources but called for updated, location-specific air quality and noise monitoring results.
He raised concerns about protections for contract workers, the absence of unionisation among employees at the appraisal stage, and the risk of child labour in the clinker supply chain.
The group urged the IFC to explain why the investment had been listed as “Hold” since May 6, 2026, and clarify whether the loan had been signed or disbursed.
Mr Ezekiel also called on the EPA to publish relevant environmental permits, quarterly monitoring returns, and inspection findings for the Tema plant and Togorme quarry, in line with applicable disclosure requirements.
The group said its findings were based on publicly available project documents reviewed through September 2026 and did not constitute a site inspection or audit.
“Ghana’s industrial transition should deliver real climate benefits while protecting the people who live and work alongside it. Transparency is how a good project proves it,” Mr Ezekiel added.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei
Reporter: Hafsa Obeng
Email: [email protected]