This is because using such sub-standard electrical cables to wire both public and private buildings is risky, compromise the safety of buildings and can also cause the loss of lives and investments.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nexans Kabelmetal Ghana Limited, a local manufacturer of electrical cables and wires, Younesse Ait Lalim, gave the advice in an interview with the Daily Graphic.

He was reacting to the incident of fire outbreaks being recorded in the country.

"Using sub-standard electrical cables to wire your buildings is like planting a bomb ready to explode," the CEO said.

He said it was unfortunate that some prospective landlords and others in the construction industry preferred sub-standard electrical cables because of their low prices instead of the standardised ones with comparatively high prices.

Fire outbreaks

Statistics from the Ghana National Fire Service indicate that 2,177 fire outbreaks were recorded between January and March 2023, and though incidents had declined if compared to previous years, it was still worrying, and the Nexan Kabelmetal CEO blamed most of those incidents on the quality of the cables used, describing it as setting a bomb to detonate.

Mr Ait Lalim, who is also the Vice-President of Nexans in charge of Sub-Saharan Africa, said using sub-standard cables was frequently the cause of the rampant fire outbreaks, particularly in buildings, homes, markets and industrial establishments.

He stressed that anytime a developer or property owner resorted to using sub-standard wiring cables, they were putting their properties and the lives of their families, the general public and occupants of those properties at risk.

He said most fire outbreaks had been caused by inferior cables used for wiring, which did not have the quality to withstand power fluctuations and thus caused fires at the least incident.

"If you use sub-standard electrical cables, you put yourself, children and the entire family in the building at risk," Mr Ait Lalim stressed.

Mr Ait Lalim called on the agencies responsible for ensuring that such sub-standard products did not find their way onto the markets to be more vigilant and diligent in the discharge of their duties.

The Nexans Kabelmetal CEO also called for the strengthening of a market surveillance mechanism to help identify sub-standard electrical cables as was normally done in other countries where such vigilance and surveillance were very strong.

Job creation

Mr Ait Lalim called for support to local standardised electrical cable manufacturing companies to produce more of the products to meet Ghana's demands.

He said not only would that assure quality products, but it would also protect and create more jobs for the teeming unemployed Ghanaian youth, boost tax revenue collection, and protect Ghana’s hard currency reserves.

"If the government is advocating Ghanaians to patronise Made-In-Ghana-Goods, then it is ideal that the government supports local manufacturing companies such as those producing electrical cables for the product to be abundant on the market so that the people will not resort to imported sub-standard electrical cables," Mr Ait Lalim said.