By Mavis Paintsil, Accra
Dzata Cement Boss Says Ghana Needs Its Own Dangotes, Local Giants Must Own Economy
Ghana cannot build a resilient economy when all its major factories are owned by foreigners.
That was the blunt message from businessman Ibrahim Mahama, Chief Executive Officer of Dzata Cement, at the 5th Anniversary of the company on Monday.
According to him, Ghana’s manufacturing sector remains weak because too few Ghanaian entrepreneurs dare to build at scale.
“For far too long, we Ghanaians have put ourselves low. We want to always be the slave to the foreigners,” he said.
“There are other ventures that I want to prove to Ghanaians that we can’t always be beggars. We can’t only just be employees of foreign companies. We can build it ourselves.”
How A Transporter Built A Cement Plant
Mr Mahama told guests how his journey started not in a boardroom, but on the road as a cement transporter.
He recalled trailing his trucks to the Ghacem plant in Takoradi and staring at the complex.
“I looked at the structure and I said to myself, I could build one,” he recounted.
That curiosity pushed him to Germany to meet equipment makers, secure financing, and start construction — a journey he says nearly collapsed under financial pressure.
He said completion was only possible with support from his younger brother, President John Dramani Mahama, and loyal distributors who stood by Dzata when it could not even raise money to clear imports.
Succession And Confidence
The businessman said Ghana needs more factories that outlive their founders. That requires trusting the next generation.
He pointed to his daughter, Nafisa Ibrahim, Managing Director of Dzata Cement, as proof that succession can work if parents give children room to lead and support to fail and learn.
“Building a factory is not enough. Building a business that lasts beyond you is the real industrialisation,” he noted.
Mr Mahama’s call comes at a time government is pushing a 24-hour economy and AfCFTA-led export drive, with emphasis on local manufacturing to cut imports.
Dzata Cement, commissioned as Ghana’s first wholly Ghanaian-owned cement plant, is now being held up as an example that local capital can compete with multinationals in heavy industry.
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