CiMAF Ghana Limited of Ciments de L’ Afrique (CiMAF), Morrocan Cement producer, has donated three hundred (300) bags of cement valued at nine thousand six hundred Ghana Cedis (₵9,600) to the College of Art and Built Environment (CABE) towards the construction of the six-storey lecture halls and offices Complex for the College.
Joseph Kobina Aboo, Director of Sales and Marketing, assisted by the Managing Director, Mohammed Binnis presented the CIMAF cement to Professor Joshua Ayarkwa on behalf of the CABE.
According to Nana Yaa Konadu, Head of Brands, the donation forms part of their corporate social responsibility and to also establish a partnership with the premier institution in training professionals in the built environment. She said, the support is to introduce the high quality CiMAF Cement brand to the next generation of construction industry players. This, she thinks will enable the College, both Faculty and students to know the quality they stand for and to attest to it as experts in the built environment.
Ms. Konadu stated that the two institutions will continue to collaborate in areas of training, research, staff and students exchange programmes and will continue to assist the College and the University.
Receiving the bags of cement on behalf of the College, Professor Joshua Ayarkwa, Provost of the CABE, stated that the donation is highly welcome and a prompt response to the appeal made by the College for support for the construction of the Complex.
Professor Ayarkwa explained that the need for the Complex has become crucial in view of the high number of students being admitted each year. He noted that, currently, KNUST’s student enrolment is over 40,000, and it is a challenge to the University in using the existing infrastructure. He continued that it is anticipated that this problem will compound in the next two years with the projected student population of 50,000 students.
With these projections in mind, he stated that the College decided to construct a nine-storey complex with its internally generated funds (IGF). He however, added that due to limited funds, the first phase of a six-storey complex is being constructed.
He pledged the College and by extension the University’s support in promoting the high-quality global cement on the Ghanaian market to experts and players in the built environment.