The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Real Estate Development Association (GREDA), Sammy Amegayibor, has downplayed the likelihood of the government’s directive to the Cement Manufacturing Development Committee (CMDC) to reverse the recent cement price hike.
Expressing his surprise at the significant price increase, Mr. Amegayibor stated that this will negatively impact builders, ultimately leading to higher housing prices.
In an interview with Nathan Quao on the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM, he pointed out that the price difference between various cement brands was just GH¢1 when the starting price was GH¢45. However, the difference has now risen to between GH¢8 and GH¢10.
“Just yesterday [Thursday], cement prices went up by about GH¢10 and GH¢12 and the starting price of cement is now GH¢85 upwards,” Mr Amegayibor added.
On May 8, during the inauguration of the Cement Manufacturing Development Committee (CMDC), Trade and Industry Minister K. T. Hammond directed that cement prices be regulated and halted. He also requested that all cement manufacturers publish their retail prices to prevent arbitrary price increases.
However, Mr. Sammy Amegayibor, in an interview with Nathan Quao, expressed skepticism about the feasibility of this directive, citing the challenges of implementing such measures in a free market economy like Ghana’s.
“If my minister issues a statement that there is a concern with cement prices, I agree with him. However, I don’t know how that will work because we are in a free market economy and it will be difficult to achieve that but the request must be fair.
“The manufacturer struggled to produce the product and we would have wished to know the government’s contribution toward helping to bring down the price.”