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Africa moving towards circular economy …Ghana included
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• 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]
A nine-member board for the New Times Corporation (NTC), publishers of The Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers was sworn into office on Thursday with a call to strengthen the governance of the Corporation.![Dr. Binka (seated second from right) with Dr Okpoti [right] the board and Management of NTC photos Okai Elizabeth.](https://spectator.com.gh/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Dr.-Binka-seated-second-from-right-with-Dr-Okpoti-right-the-board-and-Management-of-NTC-photos-Okai-Elizabeth-1024x683.jpg)
The new NTC board is chaired by Dr Charity Binka and has Very Rev. Helena Amma Serwah Opoku-Sarkodie, Mr Tito Kojo Voegborlo Esq and Naana Aklerh Amenyah Kubi I as members. Read More
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Christians have been urged to demonstrate a living faith in Jesus Christ by allowing their confession of Him as Lord and Saviour to reflect in their daily lives.
According to the Kaneshie District Pastor of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (EPCG), Rev. Dzidzor Nathaniel Affram, a genuine Christian’s confession should go beyond words and be demonstrated through obedience to God, love for others and service to the Church.
He made the call at the 40th anniversary remembrance service for the late Wesley Kwasi Kwadzo at the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, Maranatha Congregation at Awudome Avenui in the Volta Region.
Speaking on the theme, “The Church Built on a Living Confession,” Rev. Affram said life would continually present challenges capable of testing Christians’ faith, making it necessary for believers to hold firmly to their confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.
He explained that accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour required Christians to live according to His teachings, stressing that their faith must be evident in their conduct.
“A living confession listens to God and not man,” he said, urging Christians to remain obedient to God even when faced with difficulties and pressures.
Rev. Affram further encouraged the congregation to care for vulnerable people and demonstrate concern for others, adding that such acts were practical expressions of Christian faith.
He also urged Christians to identify and use their God-given gifts to build the Church.
He said every member of the Church had a role to play and cautioned Christians against looking down on others because of their status or abilities.
The remembrance service brought together family members, friends, members of the congregation and sympathisers to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the late Wesley Kwasi Kwadzo.
By Lizzy Okai
