News
Africa moving towards circular economy …Ghana included
• Large Lego blocks used for modular
The circular economy progresses in Africa and old traditions now serve a sustainable future.
Finnish companies boost positive development – and come across surprises along the way.
To build affordable, ecological houses that last a hundred years. To use recycled materials as raw materials and to create jobs and new business.
The vision of the Ylöjärvi-based company Block Solutions sounds almost like a circular economy utopia. Still, it is realistic.
“There is a shortfall of 50 million apartments in Africa and shocking amounts of difficult-to-recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste everywhere. We put it to good use,” Mr. Markus Silfverberg, the founder of Block Solutions said.
The company has developed an injection moulding technique for manufacturing building modules that look like large Lego blocks and are made of recycled plastic and organic fibre, an industrial by-product. With a rubber mallet and a ring spanner, anyone can build a 50-square-metre house.
However, what the company sells to Africa is not modules or houses but factories. The first modules outside Finland were manufactured in Accra, Ghana, in April 2022. Now, production has also been launched in Egypt and Indonesia.
“Exporting building modules from Finland would not be sustainable. That is why production must be local,” Mr. Silfverberg said.
The company’s point is to use local raw materials. There will be no lack of them – plastic bottles and other plastic waste are known to be a difficult environmental problem throughout Africa. Co-operation is being initiated with Danone and many other companies using plastic packaging.
In addition to plastic, the company has used sugarcane, rice husk, hemp, bamboo and various sustainably grown tree species, among other things, as the modules’ raw materials.
By Jussi Laitinen
[The writer (Jussi Laitinen) is an award-winning author, journalist and communications expert in Finland]
The Tema Regional Police Command has arrested a 30-year-old driver, Bismark Kpormeno, for possession of a large quantity of compressed plant materials suspected to be Indian hemp.
The arrest was made on Sunday, 31 May 2026 by officers of the Tema Highway Patrol Unit during an operation along the Tema-Ada road.
According to police, the suspect was driving a Hyundai Mighty I container truck and failed to stop when signaled. He attempted to evade arrest but was pursued and apprehended at Bondase.
A search of the vehicle revealed twelve 12 sacks and eighty 80 parcels of compressed plant materials concealed in a container and wrapped in sellotape.
Preliminary investigations show the narcotics were allegedly loaded at Kpeve in the Volta Region and were being transported to Ada.
The suspect is currently in police custody assisting with investigations. The truck and exhibits have been impounded for evidential purposes.
The Tema Regional Police Command says it remains committed to combating drug trafficking and other criminal activities.
They also urged the public to support law enforcement by providing timely and credible information on suspicious activities.
Firefighters from the Peki Fire Station of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) responded swiftly to a fatal head-on collision involving a Mercedes-Benz container truck (WR 1553-C) travelling from Nkwanta to Accra and a Mercedes-Benz passenger bus (GR 3215-E) travelling from Battor to Kabiti in the Oti Region.
The crash occurred at Peki-Tsame near Peki Senior High School in the early hours of Tuesday, 2nd June 2026.
A total of forty (40) persons were involved, comprising twenty-one (21) males, fifteen (15) females, and four (4) children.
Through a coordinated rescue operation, firefighters extricated 25 injured casualties, including 23 adults and two children.
Sadly, 15 persons lost their lives, made up of nine males and 6 females.
The injured were conveyed to the Peki Government Hospital for treatment, while the deceased were handed over to the Police, who conveyed them to the hospital mortuary for preservation and further investigation. The cause of the accident remains under investigation.
The Ghana National Fire Service has extended its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and urges all motorists to observe road traffic regulations, avoid dangerous driving practices, and exercise maximum caution on the roads to help prevent accidents and save lives.
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