SYND GENZs DEMAND TRANSPARENCY OVER IFC-FINANCED CEMENT PROJECT

The youth platform of the Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND), SYND GenZs, has called on the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Continental Blue Investment Ghana Limited (CBI Ghana) and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to publicly account for the environmental and social impacts of Ghana’s flagship low-carbon cement project.

In a press statement dated October 20, 2026, the group raised concerns about the company’s limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) plant in Tema and its clay quarry at Togorme in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region.

The IFC approved financing of up to 20 million US dollars for the project in November 2025, subject to a 12-point Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP), with deadlines running from October 2025 to June 2026. SYND GenZs says all the deadlines have passed without a publicly available progress report on the commitments.

The group also disclosed that it contacted CBI Ghana in March and July 2026 to seek the company’s response to the concerns but had received no reply as of the publication of the statement.

Founder and Executive Coordinator of SYND, Chibeze Ezekiel, said the organisation supports cleaner cement production but insists that projects promoted as climate solutions must demonstrate measurable environmental benefits and protect affected communities.

Among the concerns raised are the transparency of the project’s carbon emissions calculations, the restoration of livelihoods in Togorme, air quality around the Tema plant and protections for workers.

According to the statement, IFC documentation indicates that LC3 technology can reduce the carbon footprint of cement by up to 40 per cent compared with conventional Portland cement.

However, the project’s emissions analysis reports a 19 per cent reduction in carbon intensity.

The group is also questioning projected annual emissions of approximately 354,590 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between 2026 and 2032 and has called for the publication of the emissions baseline and methodology, particularly because IFC is advising CBI Ghana on generating carbon credits from the facility.

On land and livelihoods, the statement says the quarry covers 304 acres of Togorme community land, with 21 families who hold customary rights having agreed to compensation payable in four instalments over nine years.

It further identifies potential impacts on crop farmers, a women’s pottery group of about 100 members who extract clay from the land, and custodians of shrines located at the site.

The group says a supplementary livelihood restoration plan, including a census of affected people and a close-out audit, was due by June 30, 2026. On air quality, SYND GenZs cited project documentation showing that ambient PM2.5 readings exceeded the 24-hour limit on 20 of 28 occasions at two monitoring points between January 2020 and March 2021.

It acknowledged that Tema has multiple industrial emission sources but called for updated, location-specific monitoring results to establish the situation more clearly.

The statement also raised concerns about the representation of agency workers, the absence of unionisation among workers at the time of IFC’s appraisal, and the need for updated supplier safeguards to address the risk of child labour in the clinker supply chain.

SYND GenZs is further seeking clarification on the status of IFC’s financing, noting that the project has been listed as “Hold” on the corporation’s project page since May 6, 2026, without a public explanation of the reason or confirmation of whether the loan has been signed or disbursed.

The group has called on IFC to publish an action-by-action progress report on all 12 environmental and social commitments, explain the financing status and disclose the project’s emissions baseline and methodology before any carbon credits are generated.

It is also urging CBI Ghana to publish updates on land and livelihood restoration, recent air-quality and noise monitoring results, and the operation of a community grievance mechanism for residents and workers.

The EPA, meanwhile, is being asked to make available relevant environmental permits, quarterly monitoring returns and inspection findings for the Tema plant and Togorme quarry, in accordance with applicable disclosure rules.

CBI Ghana operates a cement grinding plant in the Tema Free Zones Enclave and a clay calcination unit with a capacity exceeding 400,000 tonnes annually. The facility was commissioned by President John Dramani Mahama on March 5, 2026.

SYND GenZs says its concerns are based on publicly available project disclosures and related documentation reviewed through September 2026, alongside its attempts to engage the company directly. It clarifies that its assessment was not based on a site inspection or audit and that the absence of a public update does not, by itself, establish non-compliance.

The organisation maintains that transparency and accountability are necessary to ensure Ghana’s industrial transition delivers genuine climate benefits while protecting the people who live and work alongside such projects.

By Kukua Snead-Michaels