Indo‑Ghana Industries Limited has started supplying locally produced liquid medical oxygen to Ghanaian hospitals, shifting the country’s supply chain from cylinder‑based distribution to a storage‑based model designed to reduce shortages and improve reliability. The first made‑in‑Ghana liquid oxygen supply was delivered to Lekma Hospital, where a cryogenic storage system has been installed to receive, store and distribute the product through the facility’s oxygen network.
Managing Director Varun Tyagi said the move addresses long‑standing challenges associated with transporting medical oxygen in cylinders, including delays, high logistics costs and supply interruptions. “Over the years, one of the biggest challenges when it comes to distribution of oxygen is that the packaging material, the cylinders, are much more expensive than the product itself. In Africa, distribution costs are too high,” he said.
Indo‑Ghana began operations in Ghana in 2010, initially focusing on gaseous oxygen. The company expanded into liquid oxygen production after the COVID‑19 pandemic highlighted distribution constraints. A single storage tank can hold the equivalent of about 1,000 cylinders of gaseous oxygen, allowing hospitals to maintain larger reserves and reduce frequent deliveries. “At Lekma, the quantity of liquid that we supplied can sustain them for a period of at least three months,” Tyagi added.
The transition has been supported by investments that have enabled hospitals to receive and store liquid oxygen. Support from development partners, including USAID, CHAI and JHPEIGO, has helped provide liquid oxygen storage tanks to about 15 hospitals nationwide. Lekma’s Head of Clinical Engineering, Saviour Demordzie, said the new system has already improved oxygen availability by providing a more stable supply and reducing reliance on emergency cylinder deliveries.
Before the installation, the hospital relied largely on oxygen cylinders, creating uncertainty when supplies ran low. “Initially, you had to call vendors when the oxygen was finishing, and if you were not fortunate, the unfortunate could happen,” Demordzie said. The new liquid oxygen system delivers a higher purity of oxygen, closer to 99 percent compared with the 90–92 percent concentration of previous systems, a critical factor in critical care settings.
Indo‑Ghana’s engineer, Eduardo Bojador Bonifacio, highlighted efficiency gains, noting the system reduces manual handling and allows automated supply through pipelines connected to hospital wards. The company’s Apollonia Industrial Enclave facility currently produces about 10 tonnes of liquid oxygen per day and plans further capacity expansion.
Looking ahead, Tyagi said the company aims to develop a hub‑and‑spoke distribution model, concentrating production at central facilities while establishing smaller filling stations closer to hospitals across the country. However, challenges remain, including delayed payments from some hospitals, rising electricity costs and limited access to long‑term financing. Electricity accounts for roughly 42‑45 percent of production costs, making power tariffs a major factor in the cost of medical oxygen.
Tyagi called for medical oxygen producers to be recognised as critical service providers, similar to arrangements in other countries where oxygen manufacturers receive priority support during power disruptions. He is also engaging with the Ministry of Health following the introduction of a national medical oxygen policy, which would support better monitoring of consumption, planning and supply management.
With the new system in place, Lekma Hospital now enjoys a more reliable oxygen supply, potentially setting a benchmark for other Ghanaian health facilities.
