Officials of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ministry of Energy have toured the facilities of SIGMA, Ghana, a multinational company with 24 years of experience in manufacturing Gas Cylinders.
The visit was to enable the NPA and the Ministry to familiarise themselves with the operations of the company and ensure that the cylinders produced are of the highest quality.
SIGMA, Ghana, a 100% Ghanaian company, was established in 1998 and lately has renovated and re-launched its new cylinders factory in Accra.
As part of the re-launch, the Ministry of Energy and National Petroleum Authority paid a courtesy visit to the SIGMA Cylinders Factory and had a tour of the facilities and the operations.
The factory, which was renovated lately and built over an area of 3,800 sqm, has a manufacturing capacity of 1.5 million cylinders per year with over 150 employees in their bid to support the local economy by providing employment opportunities and movement in the economic cycle.
In an interview with the Chief Executive Offier, Jad Jaber, he said that the company has reviewed its processes over the years and has prioritised its activities on delivering quality and safe cylinders in the Ghanaian market.
To achieve this the company has established a SIGMA Academy that provides employees with constant training and special knowledge on production.
The Deputy Director of Petroleum downstream at the Ministry of Energy, Ali Nuhu Abekah, commended SIGMA, Ghana for their contributions to the petroleum industry.
According to him, the entire set up of the company was impressive and that government will continue to support them.
“Obviously, it is government’s policy to ensure that our indigenous factories function here. And also ensure that the local content has enough participation in Ghana’s Economy and also the industrialization process and therefore such facilities are very crucial to ensure that we achieve such objectives,” he said.
He said the facility is also critical as government seeks to implement the cylinder recirculation model.
On her part, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Linda Asante said that it was refreshing to see gas cylinders being manufactured locally. This, she said, will reduce high importation of gas cylinders.
“We all know that cylinders are mainly imported but when we came here, we’ve seen that cylinders are being manufactured here, and so it is highly commendable.”
According to her, the cylinders per their observation are of standard and can resist the temperature of the country and assured that the sigma group will be given a key role in the Cylinder Recirculation Module.
Director of Gas at the NPA, Ntiwaa Kwakye, also expressed satisfaction with the operations of the Sigma group. She said: “I think it is impressive to witness the facilities in place here at Sigma Ghana. We will continue to collaborate with them especially as we seek to implement the CRM and we know they will be a key stakeholder in the exercise because we need cylinders that are of highest quality and SIGMA group have proven to be the best choice.”
The Plant Manager of the Sigma Group, Emmanuel Tetteh, said the company is open to assisting government to ensure a successful implementation of the CRM.