The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has inspected ongoing work on a $34 million starch processing factory at Amantin, in Bono East Region.
Touring premises of the Amantin Agro Processing Ltd, a wholly owned Ghanaian company, on Tuesday, 8th September 2020, on day one of his two-day working visit of the Bono East Region, President Akufo-Addo stated that, when fully completed, the factory will be one of the most modernised and fully automated industrial starch factories in West Africa.
According to the promoters of the facility, the company is currently cultivating fourteen thousand (14,000) acres of farm land as its own nucleus plantation, whilst supporting thousands of local farmers to cultivate over forty thousand (40,000) acres of cassava under an Outgrower Scheme involving fifteen thousand (15,000) Principal Out Growers.
The factory is expected to create about four hundred and fifty (450) direct jobs at the factory floor, with more than thirty thousand (30,000) indirect employment opportunities.
Additionally, the factory, with production capacity of three hundred (300) metric tons of industrial starch per day for the first phase, and six hundred (600) metric tons per day for the second phase, will significantly reduce the importation of industrial starch into the country and, thereby, reduce the pressure on our currency.
“The product from Amantin Agro Processing Ltd is going to serve as a major source of raw material input for many processing companies in the food, beverages, pharmaceuticals and textiles industries of the country. This will go a long way to boost domestic industrial production and productivity. Furthermore, it will enhance the export of industrial starch into the global market,” the President said.
Commending management of the company for taking advantage of the 1D1F incentives introduced by this government in putting up such a magnificent industrial establishment, in what is a rural district in the country, President Akufo-Addo reiterated Government’s commitment to partnering with the private sector to establish similar modern factories, which would be globally competitive, and which would take advantage of the opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
1D1F
Recounting the importance of the 1-District-1-Factory initiative, President Akufo-Addo explained that raw material producing economies do not create prosperity for the masses, explaining that the way to that goal, the goal of ensuring access to prosperity, is value addition activities in a transformed and a diversified, modern economy.
The One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative, amongst other programmes, under the Industrial Transformation Agenda of Government, is designed to transform the industrial landscape of the country, and build the capacities of domestic entrepreneurs and existing enterprises to produce high quality products and services for both domestic and foreign markets.
Further, according to the President, “it seeks to create employment, particularly for the youth in rural and peri-urban communities, and, thereby, improve income levels and standard of living, as well as reduce rural-urban migration”.
He continued, “Indeed, when the initiative was introduced in 2017, the doomsayers said that it was just a political gimmick, and nothing would come out of this laudable industrial development programme. On the contrary, we are all now witnessing many highly competitive state-of-the-art factories and enterprises springing up in various towns and districts across the country, including this one here at Amantin”.