Ghana is grappling with a looming crisis in its timber industry, exacerbated by the collapse of 75 out of 100 local manufacturing companies.
The primary cause attributed to this collapse is the persistent destruction of forests by bushfires.
Industry stakeholders are sounding alarms, indicating that the remaining 25 companies operating in areas like Western North, Eastern, and Central Regions are on the brink of closure due to difficulties in securing raw materials for production.
CEO of the Ghana Timber Millers Organisation, Dr. Kwame Asamoah Adam,underscored these challenges in a recent interview with Citi Business News.
“Now, in terms of the numbers, the medium to large size companies, most of them have collapsed. So, coming from a figure of about 100 companies now, you have just about 25 that are surviving, operating, exporting, and also providing employment. ”
He added, “Now, in terms of the materials that are coming in, in terms of round logs, it has reduced in quantity from about 1.2 million m³ about 20 years ago to now just around 500,000 million. The reduction in raw materials is attributed mainly to a decline in the production areas”.