Business Leader Mukesh Thakwani of B5 Plus Discusses Steel, Healthcare and Education in Ghana

Interview with Mukesh Thakwani, Founder and CEO of B5 Plus Ltd

When we last spoke, you were planning to expand but had to get past two main obstacles: securing a reliable electricity supply and convincing the government to ban cheap imports. What has transpired since?

The one thing that has changed in that time is that we have received a promise from Gridco, the electricity suppliers, that they will be able to give us electricity in the first quarter of 2022 that they were going to provide by the end of 2021. B5 Plus has loaned them USD 13 million to build a line and then they will repay the loan once they start charging for electricity supplies.

We are in talks with the Ministry of Trade and Industry about implementing a ban on cheaper prefabricated materials, but it has not been implemented as yet. We are trying to make the government understand that we are not only losing businesses in Ghana, but jobs and revenue as well. So, we are asking the Minister to look into it to see how soon we can solve the problem so that we can produce more prefabricated material right here in Ghana. B5 Plus is not just producing for Ghana, but for the whole West African market. Neighboring countries have started placing orders and we are exporting major steel products to all 15 West African countries, and prefab to six of them.

In terms of your exports, where do you plan to expand next?

Recently, we have won awards for Best Company in the Metal and Steel Industry, Best Application Company, and Best CSR Company, and credit for all of them must go to the entire team at B5 Plus.

B5 Plus is already exporting to the 15 West African countries including Togo, Benin, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia Freetown, and Nigeria. We would like to focus on the whole West African market and with African free trade (AfCFTA) coming, it will give us a boost to export not only to West Africa, but to the whole African market and we are really looking forward to taking that to the next level. That will really give an edge to African industrialists.

What are the key products that you export?

Our product lines include rebars, wire rods, profiles, sections, roofing sections, binding wire, nails, cold rolling products, and they are all produced right here in Ghana. The biggest challenge is getting products to some places. For instance, we cannot move products by road to Ivory Coast because they insist that goods only come by sea but exporting by road only takes two days. So, we are speaking with authorities from Ivory Coast to get them to open up their land borders as it will make exporting goods easier and trade between the two countries would increase.

Does the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), of which you are a member, have any lobbying power?

B5 Plus is thankful to the whole AGI team for making us a part of it. We are not just talking about our company, but the whole steel industry and all industries in Ghana. We want to lobby the government to come up with policies that make more industrialization possible. We really appreciate His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo’s vision of ‘One District, One Factory.’ It is a wonderful idea, but we see that there are some challenges relative to it. We will lobby the government to suggest ways to make the ‘Made in Ghana’ dream come true.

What do you see as the benefits of a company like yours producing goods in Ghana?

Building factories in different districts creates employment and that comes under His Excellency’s vision. We directly employ more than three thousand people and indirectly about five thousand people, so this industry is giving jobs to eight thousand people. It is also helping to make the environment cleaner because people are paid to collect scrap metal from all over Ghana. We are able to produce an excellent grade of steel required for dams, bridges, housing or any type of industry, we can deliver it right here in Ghana. It is creating revenue.

Are you looking at any joint ventures or partnerships?

B5 Plus is really interested in getting into the agricultural industry and healthcare. That is our primary focus right now. We are consulting with some international institutions to bring the best medical facilities to Ghana, and we are in touch with the Ministry of Health to see what support we can get from them to build the best hospital and get the best doctors. We want to build a world class medical facility like we have been able to do with the production of a pharmaceutical site here. Ghana has become a hub for medical products and the steel industry. All the neighboring countries buy steel products from Ghana because B5 Plus can provide more than four thousand different products for consumers, the mining industry, the oil and gas sector, construction industry, fabrication industry, housing industry and auto.

You established the DPSI school in Ghana, so what do you see as its major advantages?

We at B5 Plus believe the best gift you can give to a society is the best education and that is what we are doing at the DPSI school. We have nearly one thousand students made up of 28 nationalities, Ghanaians being the majority. Our belief is in the holistic approach to education. Not just book knowledge, but extracurricular activities along with academics. Whether it is sports, art and culture, drama or anything, bringing the best to students is the goal. We want them to become responsible citizens for tomorrow and that is why we have the DPS Care Foundation which supports students in need and society in general. There are also debate clubs, science clubs and leadership clubs. Everything we do is for students to learn about the different aspects of life. One day we hope a future Ghana President will come from the DPSI school.

You have won awards including Iconic Industrialist of the Decade and CEO of the Year/Decade. What does it mean to you to be recognized like this?

What is probably most important is that once you have received an award at the regional or international level it keeps you on your toes for all the good work that you are doing. It makes you move forward in a more positive direction. Recently, we have won awards for Best Company in the Metal and Steel Industry, Best Application Company, and Best CSR Company, and credit for all of them must go to the entire team at B5 Plus. The Best CSR Company of the Year award is probably the most important for us because since March 2020 during COVID-19, B5 Plus has been giving free oxygen to more than 100 government and private hospitals so that we can beat the coronavirus. We have also given PPE and food packages during the lockdown to let the community know that we care about them. During the pandemic we have not fired a single person and have created new jobs by getting into construction so that in some small way we can make a difference to our society.

What drives you to do what you do, and what is your inspiration?

What really drives me is the Ghana people. We want to create more and more ‘Made in Ghana’ goods and by doing so, we are not only creating thousands of jobs, but we are also able to save millions of dollars in foreign exchange revenue. B5 Plus employs thousands of people directly and indirectly and when you consider each of their households has five or six people in them, we are impacting around 100 thousand lives.

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