The Minerals Income Investment Fund’s (MIIF) diversification project has targeted the multi-billion dollar salt industry.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of MIIF, Mr. Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, salt is set to become one of Ghana’s major foreign exchange earners by 2026 and a top industrial earner by 2030 if the resuscitation plan of the Ada Songhor Salt project follows through as planned. This follows the plan of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) to strategically focus on the sector.
“The plan to boost salt production and the development of its allied value chain should yield about $2billion to the Ghanaian economy beginning 2027, with the potential to create more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in the next five years from just the Songhor Salt pans alone,” Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng said after a one-day working visit to Ada.
He is optimistic that the planned focus on the mineral will generate new economy vibrancy for the areas known for salt production such as Ada, Sege, Keta, Ningo and Winneba.
Mr. Koranteng intimated that, MIIF is developing a classification strategy for high priority minerals such as lithium, limestone, granite, diamond and salt. “Classifying Salt as a high priority mineral means we will invest in the mineral value chain development, we will de-risk its funding methods and help with the acquisition of relevant technology that revitalises the industry,” Mr. Koranteng said, adding Ghana and Senegal are the only countries in West Africa with the potential for large-scale industrial production of salt. He decried the fact that Nigeria with a demand in excess of 1.5 million metric tons (MT) per annum, imports 80% of its industrial salt needs from Brazil while the Songhor salt pans alone has the capacity to produce over one million tons at just 60% capacity.
Salt has at least 14,000 uses, with the chemical industry most reliant on the mineral to produce various chemicals. It is frequently used as a raw material in the production of chlorine, caustic soda, and soda ash. Aside from these, industrial salt is used to make sodium sulphate, sodium carbonate, hydrochloric acid, sodium bicarbonate, liquid sodium, metallic sodium, and sodium nitrate.
MIIF is a sovereign minerals fund mandated by the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act 2018, (Act 978) as amended, to maximise the value of dividend and royalties income accruing to the Republic of Ghana in a beneficial, accountable and sustainable manner and to monetise Ghana’s mineral wealth in a manner which would bring long term value to Ghana.
Electrochem is the company working on the salt project.