The two parties signing the agreement for the project to take off
A $25 million starch processing factory is to be established in the Nkwanta South District of the Volta Region to provide 3,000 jobs to the people in the area.
It is an entirely private venture between a Ghanaian private company, GMC Universal Ghana Limited and its Thai counterpart, KORAT SW Group of Thailand, and will be completed in July 2019.
The company will start full operations immediately after completion in support of the government’s ‘One District, One Factory’ (IDIF) policy to help create jobs and also earn foreign exchange for the country.
For the project to start, the CEO of GMC Universal Limited and the Managing Director of the KORAT SW Group Company Limited, Mr Olivier Kablan and Mr Suchart Chuveeradach respectively signed an agreement and memorandum of understanding in Accra on Friday for the take-off of the project which will be solely funded by the Thai company.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the consultant for the project and CEO of Osara Consultancy Services Ltd, Kodwo Ahlijah, said the companies chose the Nkwanta South District after the former Member of Parliament for the area, Gershon Gbediame, promised them of large track of land for the cultivation of cassava to feed the factory at Bontibor and Pusurupu in the district..
He said landowners in the area led by the former MP have leased 4,800 hectares of land for cultivation to last for over 50 years.
According to him, 2,400 ‘out-grower’ farmers would be employed and assisted to do block farming on a 2-hectare farm basis.
He said the factory would start producing in 12 months and has the capacity to produce 200,000 metric tonnes of starch.
“KORAT is the largest manufacturer of cassava turnkey starch processing plants in Thailand and South East Asia. And since 1995, it has delivered an average of three processing plants per year with very high technology,” Mr Ahlijah said.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to play its role by providing appropriate road infrastructure and other utility services to the area to support the project for the benefit of Ghanaians.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr