Italian Terraefuoco strikes in West African construction sector
Accra - Terraefuoco, an Italian company in the construction field, with its concept of building fast, clean, environmentally friendly and affordable with an Italian stylish taste, is changing the approach to this field in Ghana and in West Africa. The secret is in their new, avant-garde way of building using a special system of precast walls where the cement is in form of a revolutionary type of foam called "light cellular concrete”. It is simply poured in a cast and the walls of the building are done. The result is a place insulated from the outside temperature, heat or cold, fireproof and waterproof almost forever. "Once a building is done in our way - Valter Zilocchi says - for almost 30 years there's no need for any revamping or maintenance". He is the MD of the company in charge of Terraefuoco's business technical area. Zilocchi is an enthusiastic entrepreneur with an adventurous spirit who happened to come to Ghana just a few years ago after a lifetime experience in building luxury houses in Italy and in revamping old villas and palaces. With Fulvio Vidoni, MD of the administration sector, who has been in Ghana for 18 years, Zilocchi has 8 building sites in progress as of today, where they employ more than a hundred locals. They also have a factory of metal joists, a few warehouses and a huge office in Tema, 30 kilometers far from the capital city of Ghana, Accra.
Italian ambassador in Ghana and Togo, Giovanni Favilli, paid a visit to one of Terraefuoco's building sites in Accra last week, a huge villa of about 1.900 covered square meters, with swimming pool, boys quarters, guesthouse. “I visited Terraefuoco - said ambassador Favilli - because it is important for me to know what the Italian companies in Ghana are up to. I believe that my work as an ambassador is to act as a bridge between Italy and Ghana. This is something that includes helping in the process of linking the Ghanaian demand for products and quality, with the offer from our country and our entrepreneurs. Ghana has been proven to be a land full of opportunities, both for those builders who distinguished themselves during the years and for the newcomers as Terraefuoco. This is a company that is rather new in Ghana and can represent an interesting success story for itself because it is a driver of typical Italian quality, but with an eye to the specific needs and the local characteristics. Here, for example, it is particularly important to be able to compress construction time and costs.
Equally essential in Ghana is to build making sure to stay isolated from ground humidity. Terraefuoco has been able to incorporate these needs into its work in Ghana and is an example for other companies that would try to come and start operating here" concluded Favilli after his visit. In its close future, Zilocchi sees the launch of this new method in building applied to affordable houses in Ghana. "I have a project - he says - that is about to start: building a thousand houses at a cost for the customers of 25.000 to 30.000 dollars where the families can live in a healthy, fresh, dry, soundproof, waterproof and fireproof space that they can really call home".