Kofi Ampeah Woode
Ghana’s Defence Minister – Dr (Med) Edward Kofi Omane Boamah has sworn into office a nine-member Governing Board for the Defence Industries Holding Company Limited (DIHOC), charging them to ensure that the potentials of DIHOC are fully optimized through innovation and greater collaboration with the private sector.
The Defence Minister inaugurated the Board at the Addo Kuffour Conference Room of the Ministry, on Monday 7 July 2025, stating that Ghana’s military does not have to defend the nation just through arms, but also through strategic foresight, industrial competence, and economic resilience.
“DIHOC is a sovereign instrument, an extension of our national defence architecture. It was envisioned to be the industrial wing of the Ghana Armed Forces, designing, producing, assembling, and delivering strategic products and services to support our security forces, and contributing to national development and generating economic value”, he said.
After administering the oaths of Office, Secrecy and Allegiance to members of the Board, Dr Omane Boamah stated that Ghana’s Government has identified DIHOC as key in several flagship projects and policies, as part of its RESET agenda, to see Ghana in a 24-hour economy.
He further revealed that his Ministry is using DIHOC to collaborate with a number of Ministries, Agencies, and institutions on various special initiatives, towards addressing the needs of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
He listed the collaborators as the Ministries of Interior; Food and Agriculture; Lands and Natural Resources; Waste, Housing and Water Resources; Trade and Agribusiness; Local Government and Rural Development; and the 24-hour Economic Secretariat, National Alternative Livelihood Empowerment Program, National Service Authority, and National Youth Authority.
He also referred to global benchmarks where the essence of the military is also acknowledged by their industrial capacity to produce many defence needs; from uniforms to ammunition, armored vehicles to advanced surveillance drones, better placing the forces to protect sovereignty, and negotiate their interests on the world stage.
“Security has become multi-dimensional, therefore, to stand still is to fall behind. That is why the Ministry of Defence is committed to transforming DIHOC into a center of excellence for defence manufacturing, mining, engineering, logistics, and strategic innovation”, the Minister asserted.
Urging the Board to renew DIHOC’s original vision with clarity, courage, and urgency, he charged them to be fast but deliberate, move from potential to productivity, vision to feasible outcomes, build systems that last beyond tenures, and let DIHOC be the example of what a state-owned enterprise can achieve when purpose meets competence.
The Minister also commended the establishment of a Defence Industrial Complex – designed to serve multiple interlocking strategic objectives that align with Ghana’s long-term defence and development goals – which is structured around DIHOC, to spearhead Ghana’s industrialization agenda.
The industrialization ideals include operational independence, emergency preparedness and rapid response, peacekeeping leadership, technology transfer and innovation, economic diversification and industrial linkages, job creation and capacity building, and strategic sovereignty and national pride.
The President of Ghana, and Commander-In-Chief of GAF – His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, in his 2025 State of the Nation Address to Ghana’s Parliament, tasked the Defence Minister, to ensure that the potentials in DIHOC are fully optimized, through innovation and greater collaboration with the Private Sector.
The nine-member Board with a 3-and-half year tenure, is chaired by the Deputy Minister for Defence – Mr Ernest Brogya Genfi, with the following members; Mr Emmanuel Kartey – Chief Director, Defence Ministry; Lieutenant General William Agyapong – Chief of the Defence Staff, GAF; Mr Emmanuel Drah – Member of Parliament, Upper West Akim;
Others are; Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Kweku Dankwa Hagan – Director General, Defence Industries Department, GAF; Colonel John Wilberforce Kweku Asabre (Rtd) – Director, Veterans Administration Ghana; Madam Vida Addae – Private Businesswoman; Mr Kwadwo Gyeke-Darko – Private Businessman; and Brig Gen Charles Gbekle – Director General, Legal Services, GAF, as Secretary.
DIHOC was established as a limited liability company under Ghana’s Company ACT in November 2010, to manage and develop industrial projects, and for the first eight years, the footwear division in Kumasi was institutionalized.
Afterwards, DIHOC has significantly expanded its footprint through strategic public-private partnerships, and now hosts over 20 Joint Venture companies, with both local and international private sector entities, transitioning from a concept into a fully operational multi-sectorial industrial entity.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
