Ghana’s $20 million low-carbon cement project is facing calls for greater transparency over its emissions reductions, land compensation arrangements and worker protections, raising questions about how climate-focused industrial investments are monitored and held accountable.
The Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND) GenZs has urged the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Continental Blue Investment (CBI) Ghana Limited and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to disclose progress on environmental and social commitments linked to the project.
The group said deadlines for 12 environmental and social commitments agreed upon by CBI Ghana had elapsed without public progress updates, making it difficult for affected communities and other stakeholders to assess whether the project was meeting its obligations.
The IFC approved financing of up to $20 million on November 24, 2025, for a limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) plant in Tema and a clay quarry at Togorme in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region.
The investment is intended to support the production of lower-carbon cement, a technology that could help reduce emissions from one of the construction sector’s major industrial inputs.
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However, the concerns raised by SYND GenZs highlight the importance of verifying the environmental benefits of such investments, particularly as Ghana seeks to expand industrial production while meeting its climate commitments.
At a press briefing in Accra, Mr Chibeze Ezekiel, Founder and Executive Coordinator of SYND, said the organisation and its partner, Industrious Labs, had contacted CBI Ghana in March and July 2026 to seek responses to their concerns but had received no response at the time of publication.
“We support cleaner cement, and we want this project to succeed. But a project financed as a climate solution has to show its work,” he said.
The group said communities in Tema and Togorme, as well as workers at the facilities, needed clear information on whether the agreed safeguards had been implemented.
One of its concerns relates to the timing of the safeguards, as project documents indicated that construction of the LC3 plant was already 90% complete when the IFC appraised the investment, while extraction at the Togorme quarry had begun.
Among the commitments scheduled for implementation after work had started were an updated environmental and social management system, a supplementary livelihood restoration plan, a stakeholder engagement plan for the Tema plant and a community grievance mechanism.
For investors and policymakers, the concerns raise questions about how environmental and social risks are assessed during project financing and how compliance is monitored once construction and operations are underway.
On climate performance, SYND GenZs said LC3 technology could reduce carbon emissions by 40% compared with conventional Portland cement, but the project’s emissions analysis indicated a 19% reduction in carbon intensity.
The group also questioned projected average absolute emissions of approximately 354,590 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually between 2026 and 2032.
It said the baseline and assumptions underpinning a claimed annual emissions reduction of 195,030 tonnes required further explanation to allow independent verification.
The group called for the publication of the emissions baseline, calculation assumptions and methodology before any carbon credits were generated from the project.
The disclosure is significant because independently verifiable emissions data would help establish whether the investment is delivering the climate benefits used to justify its financing.
Land use and compensation also featured prominently in the group’s concerns.
According to SYND GenZs, the quarry covers about 304 acres of community land and affects 21 families with customary rights who agreed to compensation payable in four instalments over nine years.
Affected groups reportedly include crop farmers, approximately 100 women engaged in pottery who sourced clay from the land, and custodians of shrines located on the site.
The group said the IFC had found the livelihood restoration plan only partly aligned with its Performance Standard 5, which addresses land acquisition and involuntary resettlement, and that the extraction area had not been clearly demarcated.
These issues could have implications for community livelihoods and the project’s long-term operating environment, particularly if compensation and restoration arrangements are not adequately implemented.
On environmental monitoring, the group cited project documentation indicating that ambient PM2.5 readings exceeded the 24-hour limit on 20 of 28 occasions at two monitoring points in Tema between January 2020 and March 2021.
While acknowledging that Tema has multiple industrial emission sources, SYND GenZs called for updated, location-specific air quality and noise monitoring results to establish the conditions around the plant.
The group also raised concerns about contract workers’ protections, the absence of unionisation among employees at the appraisal stage and the risk of child labour in the clinker supply chain.
It urged the IFC to explain why the investment had been listed as “Hold” since May 6, 2026, and clarify whether the loan agreement had been signed or funds disbursed.
The EPA was also asked to publish relevant environmental permits, quarterly monitoring returns and inspection findings for the Tema plant and Togorme quarry, in line with applicable disclosure requirements.
SYND GenZs said its findings were based on publicly available project documents reviewed through September 2026 and did not constitute a site inspection or an independent audit.
The disclosures sought by the group could help investors, regulators and communities assess the project’s environmental performance, social costs and compliance with financing conditions.
For Ghana’s industrial transition, the central issue is whether investments designed to reduce emissions can deliver measurable climate gains while protecting livelihoods and maintaining public confidence in the country’s industrial development agenda.
Mr Ezekiel said transparency was necessary to demonstrate that climate-focused industrial projects were delivering benefits to the people and communities affected by them.
