Public Policy think tank IMANI Africa has warned that Ghana stands at a critical crossroads as the government embarks on yet another attempt to revive the long-dormant Komenda Sugar Factory.
The success or failure of this attempt to revive the factory, IMANI says, will either signal a turning point in the country’s industrial policy or condemn it to another round of costly, unfulfilled ambitions.
IMANI argues that the stakes extend far beyond sugar production. The think tank maintains that a successful revival would prove that industrial policy in Ghana can be both pragmatic and transformative.
But failure risks perpetuating the same cycle of abandoned projects, wasted resources, and lost public trust that has plagued our manufacturing history.
The government has tasked an Interim Management Committee (IMC) to oversee the factory’s restart. IMANI is urging the committee to anchor its work in data-driven planning, transparency, and practical execution.
IMANI further warns that without measurable milestones, accountability, and a clear-eyed assessment of what it will take to make Komenda competitive, political timelines could once again override operational realities.
“This is an opportunity for Ghana to learn from past mistakes and genuinely build a manufacturing sector that can compete globally. The stakes are high: a successful revival would prove that industrial policy can be pragmatic and transformative, while failure risks perpetuating a cycle of costly, unfulfilled ambitions,” IMANI argued in an analysis cited by The High Street Journal.
Past failures, the think tank notes, have often been the product of grand announcements that lacked follow-through, leaving factories idle while imported goods continue to dominate the market.
For Komenda, the risk is particularly acute: years of inactivity have eroded farmer confidence, disrupted supply chains, and diminished the plant’s technical capacity.
IMANI says the revival must be treated as a litmus test for Ghana’s broader industrial ambitions. The think tank says if Ghana is able to get Komenda right, the country can prove to itself and to investors that Ghana can run complex manufacturing projects sustainably.
Failure, the think tank says, will reinforce the perception that industrialisation here is more rhetoric than reality.
As the IMC begins its work, IMANI is calling on stakeholders to remain vigilant and demand progress grounded in data, transparency, and practical realities.
