We want to print majority of textbooks - Local printers appeal to govt

Local printers have challenged the government to give practical meaning to its promise of building the capacity of local industries by offering them the job to locally print textbooks and exercise books.

They expressed regret at the fact that although in 2014 the government promised to give them 20 per cent of printing jobs for public schools, amounting to $60 million, the industry had only three per cent, amounting to less than $2 million.

They also described as unfortunate the passage of the law on the waiver of import duty on paper products, leaving out inputs used by printers in the country.

That, they said, had created an imbalance on the playing field, thereby giving more advantage to publishers who chose to print books outside the country and import them duty free.

In his State of the Nation Address in February this year, President John Dramani Mahama said six million textbooks and 15 million exercise books would be produced.

“I am convinced we have enough capacity locally to print this material. I have asked the Minister for Education to ensure that domestic printing houses are involved in fulfilling this huge order,” the President said.

In separate interviews with the Daily Graphic, three of the leading players in the printing industry said contrary to excuses given by publishers that there was lack of capacity on the part of local printers, there was enough evidence that superior book printing technology existed locally.

They, therefore, expressed the hope that during the award of the next contract for the printing of textbooks and exercise books, majority of the printing work would be given to local printers, instead of the practice in the past when local jobs were executed in Asia.

The three are the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the Buck Press and the Type Company Limited, Mr Kofi Buckman and Mr Coby Asmah, respectively, and the Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Kenneth Ashigbey.

More than enough capacity

Mr Buckman told the Daily Graphic that the printing industry had more than enough capacity to print any book better than was currently being printed outside.

He said the Ministry of Education had evidence of the fact that samples presented by local printers three years ago were of a better quality than those imported.

“The decision to waive taxes on only book products,” he said, meant that publishers had been given the green light to print books outside and import them into the country without paying tax.

On the other hand, he said, local printers had had to import inputs for book printing for which they had to pay tax, thereby making their unit prices higher than those of the imported ones and creating an uneven playing field.

That, he said, was killing the printing industry and making it impossible to employ graduates from the country’s universities who had undertaken courses in printing and allied areas.

Mr Asmah described the entire situation as a mixed feeling of hope and disappointment.

He said it was becoming obvious that there was lack of commitment to promises made to build local capacity, saying, “We cannot in one breath profess local content, building the capacity of Ghanaian industry, ensuring export from Ghana, creating jobs and encouraging outlets for industry to absorb those who come out of school while, in another, we do everything that is the opposite of what we profess.”

He said there were genuine entrepreneurs who had invested heavily in the printing industry and were determined to recoup their investment, as well as make the industry sustainable, but their efforts were being truncated by lack of adequate support from the state.

He said the surest way for the government to build the capacity of the local printing industry was not just make pronouncements to allocate a percentage of printing jobs to the local industry but give backing to the pronouncement by carrying it out.

That way, he said, a clear signal would be sent to all other stakeholders on the need to engage local printers in a manner that would ensure that the industry attained self-sufficiency and profitability.

A huge industry dying at Accra New Town

“There is a huge industry at Accra New Town that is dying out because there is no work. Simple things that can be printed in Ghana are being printed outside. It’s sad,” he said.

He said the printing industry, by virtue of the country’s strategic geographical location, stood in a prime position to print for landlocked countries within the sub-region, but “it seems we are good at drafting laws but when it comes to implementation, we are found wanting”.

Mr Asmah said it was unfortunate that some publishers had repeatedly said there was lack of capacity and asked: “If we lack capacity, how do we acquire the capacity if we are not given jobs?”

He said the government, rather, ought to consciously try and build the capacity of the local industry gradually, adding, “If we start, there will not be an instant 100 per cent success but there will be progressive success.”

That, he said, would encourage writers to write more and publishers to publish more and thereby revive the industry, while generating more taxes that would ensure the generation of adequate liquidity within the industry.

“If you cannot do what we are asking for, then impose taxes on imported books and that will ensure competition and encourage local printing,” he added.

Mr Ashigbey said for the President to have announced that 100 per cent of government textbooks would be printed in Ghana demonstrated a desire to empower an industry in which Ghana had a huge comparative advantage.

He said it was instructive when the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, at the launch of the Quarter Fold of GCGL’s KBA press, said the psyche of Ghanaian children was adversely affected, knowing that the books they were reading were not produced in Ghana.

He called for greater collaboration between publishers and printers towards building the future of the Ghanaian printing industry, adding that when that was achieved, Ghana stood a big chance of exporting to the West African sub-region.

“We need to sacrifice a bit of today’s comfort to build a better tomorrow,” he charged.

Mr Ashigbey also called on local printers to move beyond their individual capacities and build synergies through collaboration towards achieving a competitive front in executing the promise of printing government textbooks locally.

Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh