Yvonne Nduom (wife of Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom) being assisted by a traditional leader to officially open the mill
Some 5,000 farmers and allied workers are expected to be employed by the newly-opened Worawora Rice Mill in the Volta Region.
Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Groupe Nduom, who officially opened the factory on Tuesday, said about 20,000 people would be indirect beneficiaries of the project.
Speaking to an audience made up of district agricultural officers, chiefs and farmers, Dr Nduom said Ghana spent $1.2 billion on rice importation, hence the establishment of the mill.
“Imagine the jobs and development we are giving to America, Vietnam and Thailand. Our example should encourage other investors to emulate our example and in 4 to 5 years, all the $1.2 billion will stay in Ghana for roads, hospitals, schools and in the pockets of farmers.”
Dr. Nduom urged the workers to take their work seriously and announced that farmers will be readily paid for their produce with life insurance packages.
Dr. Nduom added that he would break ground for the construction of another mill at Assin Bereku in the Central region today, November 3, 2016.
Kwame Asomaning, Managing Director at Ghana Growth Fund Company (GGFC,) Group Nduom’s investing subsidiary, said the group currently owns a major stake in the factory and therefore intends to replicate it in other parts of the sub-region.
Mr. Asomaning urged Ghanaians to buy the Edwumawura Rice since the rice after harvest will be available on the market in a fortnight for consumption rather than the sometimes 10-year-old imported rice.
“Ghana has 580,000 acres of land that can produce 1.7 million tonnes of rice to feed the entire country so why import? We borrowed $940 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yet send $1.2 billion outside for rice importation. This is not sound economics,” he declared.
Owner of Afariwa Farms and former Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) President, Nana Owusu Afari, in an address, said Ghana has all the resources needed to create wealth, and called on Ghanaians to go into entrepreneurship.
Seth Kwame Darko, a representative of the farmers, gave the assurance that they would feed the Mill with quality rice.
He cited undeveloped lands and the lack of agric machinery as some challenges bedeviling their work.
A business desk report