GSA boss: Clinker substitute factory being built in Ghana

Two major firms have begun moves to establish factories that can manufacture a substitute for clinker in Ghana, the director general of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Alex Dodoo, has confirmed.

Clinker is a nodular material produced at the kilning stage during the production of cement, and is used as the binder in many cement products.

This is expected to help reduce the need for imports into Ghana of clinker, which is a major component in the manufacture of cement.

“We have published a few papers on how we can use local substitutes to replace a significant proportion, probably 50%, of the clinker we use, using clay,” Professor Dodoo said on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (9 May).

“And I am happy to note that two giants are actually establishing a factory to produce this. They will need the standards that will drive this,” he told the ABS host, Kwaku Nhyira-Addo.

“We are working with them to ensure that the cement that comes out is world class, world standard, has the resilience and the strength needed. So, by looking at standardisation, we can actually do a lot of import substitution,” Dodoo said.