African Engineers: Grassroots Business Development in Ghana

A major initiative of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, was taken in January 1972 with the establishment of the Technology Consulting Center (TCC). Kumasi is home to Ghana’s largest kokompe or informal industrial zone, located northwest of the city and known locally as Suame Magazine. The then Prime Minister, Dr. Kofi Busia, had commissioned the university to conduct a survey of Suame Magazine and its hundreds of base vehicle repair and rebuild shops. Therefore, the newly created TCC decided to take as its main objective an interaction with the five thousand artisans of the Magazine that leads to assistance in the diversification of activities through the improvement of production technologies and the introduction of new products and services.

Over the next 25 years, urban drift increased the Magazine’s population to over 70,000 artisans. It was largely to the credit of the university that the number of modern production facilities, the level of technical capabilities, and the range of products kept pace with, and in some cases exceeded, the growth of the human population.

This evolution was a long and slow process, plagued with many delays and frustrations. However, the team of engineers and technicians, largely formed in the 1970s, pursued their goals with enthusiasm and determination, and all the key figures remained in their posts throughout this long period. Industrial development programs in Africa and other parts of the developing world are often abandoned after 2-5 years. The story of KNUST and Suame Magazine may encourage governments and development agencies to take a longer-term view.

Universities are involved in teaching and the TCC’s first move in 1971 was to set up a training workshop on the university campus and invite Suame artisans to attend for training. Some master crafters feel that their apprentices are taking advantage of the opportunity, but overall the response was disappointing. He soon realized that two things were needed. The first was for the training to be offered in the Magazine where it would attract the most interest. The second was that the craftsmen needed affordable supplies from the machine tools and production facilities they were being trained to operate.

By March 1975, a plan had been drawn up to establish an Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit (ITTU) at the heart of Revista Suame and run by TCC personnel. A project proposal was submitted to the Government of Ghana and various international development agencies. Then there was a four-year wait before the funds were available. On-campus training continued and NGO funding enabled the importation of used machine tools from the UK to equip the first four independent workshops with trained production teams. These companies produced steel bolts and nuts for the construction of buildings, trucks, and fishing boats, and lathes and bench saws for use by local carpenters. Machines were also made to extract palm oil and process cassava and corn.

In 1979, the Government of Ghana and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) made funds available to establish the first ITTU at Suame Magazine, Kumasi. At the same time, a project to establish a second ITTU in Tamale in the Northern Region was approved with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Tamale is almost 400 kilometers from Kumasi and logistical problems delayed the opening of the ITTU until 1988. However, progress in Kumasi was much faster and the Suame ITTU began operations in August 1980.

At first, the Suame ITTU continued the program transferred from the university campus, training artisans to operate machine tools and supplying imported used machines at affordable prices to those who acquired the necessary skills. It also introduced the manufacture of new products, including a range of machines designed for use in upgrading traditional rural industries such as soap making, post-harvest processing and cottage industries. With other sections of the TCC training rural artisans and farmers in the use of the new equipment, by 1985 the project had established hundreds of new rural and urban enterprises employing thousands of men and women.

The TCC was eager to introduce new manufacturing technologies in Suame Magazine. Even before ITTU opened, he had learned that existing indigenous smelters only handled non-ferrous metals: bronze for the traditional gold weights made at Kurofofrom in the Ashanti region, and aluminum alloys for cooking pots, first made in the northern end in Bolgatanga and then produced in most urban centers including Kumasi. So the decision was made to introduce iron foundry and the first iron foundry was demonstrated at ITTU Suame in early 1982.

Beginning with small, 60-kilogram capacity extractable crucible furnaces of iron, the industry expanded rapidly to later employ cupola furnaces that melted over a ton of recycled cast iron scrap at each firing. The iron foundry at Suame Magazine has grown to be one of the biggest employers, and traders come from all over Ghana and neighboring countries to buy their products. The main sales depot at Suame ITTU is packed from floor to ceiling with corn grinding plates, by far the best selling product in demand from countless corn milling companies.

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has been working in close partnership with grassroots industries for over 40 years. The loyal group of pioneering engineers is now retired, but others have stepped up to take their place. These people have not graduated and gone to greener pastures abroad, but have put their knowledge and skills at the service of their less fortunate compatriots and for the betterment of the entire community. They are deserving of recognition and honor in their country and throughout the global development network.