The Aboso Glass Factory in Tarkwa in the Western Region of Ghana has allegedly been sold to scrap dealers, according to reports.
This information was captured in a video first shared by popular YouTuber Goshers, which has since gone viral on social media.
Goshers, who was at the scene, stated, “I learned it has been sold, and they are cutting the metals away, including transformers.”
He then approached an unidentified man at the factory’s premises, who also confirmed the claim, stating:
“It’s true; what is going on is actually true. The current government has sold the Aboso Glass Factory to scrap dealers”, he noted.
Another person at the scene added, “We were here when some people came and started cutting the metals for scrap. They brought five trucks and filled them with scrap metals”, he stated.
The Aboso Glass Factory, established in 1966 by Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was once a leading manufacturer and supplier of bottles for the beverage industry.
The factory employed around 500 workers and produced 18 million bottles, 2 million units of tableware, and 8-10 million square feet of sheet and louvre glass annually.
However, financial difficulties led to its collapse and subsequent renaming as Tropical Glass Factory under the management of Gilchrist Olympio.
In 2003, the factory was listed for divestiture after the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) ceased power supply to the facility.
In 2017, the government announced plans to restore the factory with investor support. In 2019, GIHOC Distilleries Company Limited took over the factory to rehabilitate and restart production, reduce reliance on imported glass and bottles, and supply local production for GIHOC’s liquor brands, such as Castle Bridge, Kaiser, and Schnapps.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of GIHOC Distilleries Company Limited, Maxwell Kofi Jumah, has claimed that the current developments follow a request from new investors.
