A TOTTERING POST-INDEPENDENCE BEGINNING
Ghana’s leaders, during the immediate-post independence era tackled the problem of industrialization with a top-down approach, without due consideration of resources on which developments which were taking place will thrive.
As a result of chronic capacity underutilization, occasioned by the shortage of raw materials and the deteriorating Ghanaian economy, began to be felt by the man-in-the street during the late 1960s, and early 1970s. The traditional dependence on imported consumer goods could not be financed, and people had to queue to be able to buy the so-called essential commodities.
A SEARCH FOR AN ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT MODEL, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANCY CENTRE (TCC)
The situation became so serious that, for the first time in Ghana, Policy Makers and Academics started to look out for alternative development strategies other than the Big Push approach. Dr. E.F. Schumacher had published his epoch-making book, “Small Is Beautiful”, which seeks to question the traditional Big Push Mentality by extolling the merits in small beginnings. At the KNUST, members of the Suame Development Group (made up of Development Oriented Lecturers from the respective Faculties of the University) became aware of the impact that the potentials available at the nearby Suame Informal Industrial Area will make on Ghana’s Industrial Development, if handled well.
It was under these circumstances that the Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) was established in August 1972, with assistance from the Intermediate Technology Development Group Ltd. UK, at the then University of Science and Technology, Ghana. The Centre was to serve as an interface between the research and development activities taking place at the University and the entrepreneurial aspirations, of the Ghanaian public.
DEPARTURE FROM THE IVORY TOWER MENTALITY, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SUAME INTERMEDIATE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER UNIT (ITTU)
After running the Centre as a purely Consultancy Unit, answering client’s queries, it soon became evident that, desk-bound Consultancy Services alone, from the comfort of the campus, can be no substitute for first hand practical involvement with the technologies being transferred.
This way of thinking, and the publication of the Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit Concept by Prof. J.W. Powel, led to the establishment of the Suame Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit (ITTU) in August 1980, within Suame Magazine, Ghana’s largest Informal Industrials Area (about 10km from the KNUST Campus), with an estimated population of 80,000 artisans, then. The aim was for the TCC to establish an effective presence among the artisans whereby new technologies can be perfected and transferred to them. The ultimate goal was to promote a steadily rising level of technology, and increased employment opportunities. The Unit consists of a group of small manufacturing workshops engaged in Metal Machining, Plant Construction, Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metal Founding, and Wood Working.
THE GHANA REGIONAL APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIAL SERVICE (GRATIS) PROJECT
By 1987, the TCC had established a second ITTU in Tamale (Northern Ghana) with assistance from CIDA and USAID. The Suame ITTU became a fully-fledged Technology Transfer Institution and, an internationally recognized reference case in matters relating to grassroots industrial development, and a functioning University /Private Sector Lincage in Africa, South of the Sahara.
Above all, the success of the first two ITTUs in Kumasi and Tamale encouraged the Government of Ghana to embark upon the Ghana Regional Appropriate Technology Industrial Service (GRATIS) Project, (with the mandate to established ITTUs in the remaining regional capitals of Ghana by 1990), with funding from the EU and CIDA.
THE BEGINNING OF A GRASSROOTS INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN GHANA: THE CHAIN REACTION BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE INTRODUCTION OF THE TCC BASIC ENGINEERING WORKSHOP AND MACHINE TOOLS SALE PROGRAMME
The impact of the foregoing developments was phenomenal. Based on the seminal role played by the TCC in promoting the Concept of Local Manufacturing Capability as the bed-rock of Ghana’s Grassroots Industrial Development Promotion Effort, the TCC Basic Engineering Workshop and Machine Tools Sale Programme had started.
Through these Workshops, it has been possible to establish very effective productive capacity and capability for a wide range of industrial process plants, and engineering products using locally available raw materials.
The combined effect of these products is the proliferation of the small-scale family and medium scale industries based on them. Like the ripples created by a pebble thrown into water, the initial humble investment of the TCC in a few machine tools and a few dedicated Technician Entrepreneurs, have multiplied several times creating more and more employment opportunities at the various levels of industrial activity and trading generated by them.
By 1985, a total of 124 machines tools were imported into the country, and were used for the establishment of nine light Engineering Workshop in Kumasi and one in Tamale, generating 136 work places. The actual work places generated by the Workshops may be small. But the employment opportunities offered by the secondary and tertiary industries, and the attendant retail activities goes into thousands.
The trend had persisted over the years even after the TCC Basic Workshop and Machine Tools Programme had officially ended in the mid-1990s, and light engineering industries have come to be taken for granted in Ghana. There are scarcely any area of human endeavor which have not been influenced by the effects of the Basic workshop concept. Products of the Basic Workshop have mushroomed all over Ghana to promote economic activity in areas as diverse as Agriculture, Agro Processing, Food Processing Transportation, Wood Processing, Civil Engineering, and Building Construction.
PARALLEL SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFER PROGRAMME
Even though the development taking place on the engineering front of the Centre’s work are very crucial for its industrial promotion efforts, the success which have been achieved could not have come about without a parallel programme at the TCC for the development of specific technologies relating to Food Processing, Weaving, Intermediate Technology Brick Production, Micro Concrete Roofing Tiles Production, Beekeeping, Minimum Tillage and Alley Cropping Farming system, Fish Seed and Feed Production, and Industrial Ceramics etc. towards the promotion of the Country’s Small Scale Industries.
Over the years, different Circumstances have contributed to the decision to promote the development of one technology or the other. A typical case in question concerns the development and promotion of the famous TCC Laundry Soap which came about in the mid-1970s and the 1980s as a result of the scarcity of the product on the market, due to foreign exchange constraints. Accordingly, there was the need to save the situation with an alternative local substitute. On the other hand, the development of the TCC Intermediate Technology Palm Oil Production was the result of an attempt to reduce the arduous and unhygienic conditions associated with the traditional method. In all instances, the Project Officer, in charge, identifies the relevant problems, and works closely with the engineers and technicians at the ITTU to come out with solutions. These will include the design and manufacture of the necessary production machinery and equipment.
As much as possible, further development and transfer of the technologies are carried out under actual Commercial Production Conditions, in purpose-built Production Units. In this way, Clients will benefit from first hand on-the-job training programmes, while the Units will become increasingly self-sustaining through the proceeds which will accrue from the sale of their products.
RECOGNITION AND FAVOURABLE RESPONSE
Being the first time in the history of Africa (South of the Sahara) that an Institution of Higher Learning had abandoned its Ivory Tower stance to involve itself in promoting Grassroots Industrialization as part of its Poverty Alleviation Agenda, the euphoria which greeted the KNUST’s establishment of the TCC and the Suame ITTU, can be understood: The major international Development Agencies viz. USAID, ODA, CIDA, GTZ, the IDU of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Intermediate Technology Development Group Ltd, and OXFAM etc., were all eager to assist by providing funding to support the various initiatives of the Concept. Additionally, through the provision of suitable International Platforms, they were able to link up the budding Centre to relevant Institution in Africa, and elsewhere in the world.
Apart from the foregoing and the positive impact that the work of the TCC has made on the Grassroots Industrial Landscape of Ghana, the widespread patronage (in terms of Consultancy Services) that the Centre had received, is additional indication of its success, and the relevance of its work. One noteworthy area in this respect concerns the 2½-year World Bank Consultancy Assignment (involving 10 consultants) to transfer a total of twelve Intermediate Technologies (which involved the airfreighting of a wide range of production machinery and equipment from Ghana) for the benefit of the Government of Malawi.
A PERIOD OF STAGNATION
Even though the impact of the TCC Basic Workshop Concept and the network of ITTUs has helped to bring about a positive and visible change to Ghana’s Grassroots Industrial Landscape, the situation remained static after the Basic Workshop and Machine Tools Programme Officially ended in the mid1990s. As a nation, we have not been able to use the benefits of the change to propel the country into the next level of sustainable Economic Development.
The effects of globalization, and the Centre’s inability to meet the demands of the digital age (by leading the way, once more, in introducing more efficient means of production), had contributed to making technologies which had evolved unsustainable, and their products uncompetitive.
The Technology Consultancy Centre was able to relate effectively with the Grassroots Industrial Sector, and brought the University to the doorsteps of the middle Level Entrepreneur, because of the semi-autonomy it enjoyed and its ability to carry through new and progressive ideas for the benefit of its clientele without hindrance. However, the decision, in 2004, to merge the TCC into the Collegiate system of the KNUST, resulted in stifling of the freedom of thought and action, which is necessary for the growth and promotion of creativity and innovation. The element of Commercial Production, with its attendant Technical, Administrative, and Accounting Support Services (which made the Suame ITTU financially self-sustaining) had been eroded to the extent that, as late as December 2020, there was only one Technician manning the Suame ITTU Workshop.
REBIRTH: RE-TOOLING OF THE SUAME ITTU WORKSHOP AND RECOGNITION OF THE TCC AS A UNESCO CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR ENGINEERING, INNOVATION, MANUFACTURING, AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
With the appointment of Prof. Samuel Mensah Sackey in 2017 as the 8th Director of the Technology Consultancy Centre, there were visible signs of change in the affairs of the Centre.
In the absence of the full complement of Project Officers, for the Small Scales Industries Development Programme, and Technicians and Engineers for the Suame ITTU, the Centre’s Technology Transfer Programme was limited to sourcing of support for the implementation of Special Projects for Special Interest Groups. Some of these concern the following;
- GIZ Funded Cluster Focus Component Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation in Ghana. GIZ / SI Jobs Project. This is a grant from GIZ for the construction of an Auto Diagnostic Centre at the Suame ITTU.
Beneficiaries: 176 Auto Mechanics from the Suame Magazine were trained
Duration: November 2022 to October 2023.
- Development of Training Package to Support Skills Upgrading of Identified Agro Processing Equipment Manufacturers. This is a Skills Development Fund (SDF) Funded Project to prepare Training Manuals for Agro Processing Equipment Manufacturers in Ghana
Duration: November 2019 to July 2020
- Grant from the Royal Academy of Engineering for The Establishment of Manufacturing Hubs For Closing The Skills Gap Between Academia and Industry.
Beneficiaries: Two Batches Of 3rd Year Students from The KNUST, and Four Technical Universities, totaling 64 Students.
Duration: November 2019 to September 2022
However, the overriding aim of Management was to leverage the Centre to the point where, it will, once more, be able to lead the way in propelling the country to the next higher level of Economic Development. To this end, steps were taken to start retooling the ITTU Workshops with the state-of-the-art CNC Machine Tools comprising, a Milling Machine, a Centre Lathe, a Press Brake, a Laser cutting Machine, and a 3-D Printer.
It is gratifying to note that, these developments have not gone unnoticed. In 2021, the TCC was recognized as a UNSCO Centre of Excellence for Engineering, Innovation, Manufacturing, and Technology Transfer with a Director General, and two Directors for Innovation and Manufacturing, respectively.
The new Director General, in the person of Prof. Francis Davis, assumed duty in April 2023, and is in the process of carrying out renovations toward reactivation of the Suame ITTU Workshop, and some of the Production Units.
The Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Technology Consultancy Centre in 1972, and observance of the World Engineering Day 2022, which came off on 4th March 2022 at the of the Suame ITTU, was dedicated to the recognition of the TCC as a UNESCO Centre of Excellence. The significance of the Day in respect of the fact that history is repeating itself, is not lost on the participants: Fifty years after the establishment of the Technology Consultancy Centre, and the euphoria which greeted its successes, the Centre is at the threshold of yet another promising beginning which can help to bring Ghana’s industrial Development Process to a higher level of growth.
The TCC’s recognition as a UNESCO Centre of Excellence for Engineering, Innovation, Manufacturing, and Technology Transfers (and the ongoing drive to retool the Suame ITTU Workshops with Modern Production Machine Tools) are sufficient indication that, if handled well, the new opportunities can help to promote an industrial take-off of Ghana in the foreseeable future.