“It looks too ambitious and impossible”, was what most Ghanaians were thinking, when PresidentAkufo-Addo made known his vision of establishing factories in all districts in the country, during the 2016 election campaign.
The initiative, dubbed One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) is to address the challenges of slow economic growth at the district level, through a massive nation-wide industrialisation drive, which will equip and empower communities to utilise their local resources in manufacturing products that are in high demand both locally and internationally.
The President indicated that the program was going to be carried out in partnership with the private sector, banks and other institutions.
Today, with the help of the Ghana Export and Import Bank (GEXIM), the Central region can boast of two gigantic green field projects, namely the Ekumfi Fruits & Juice Factory (Eku Juice) and Casa de Ropa Factory.
While the Ekumfi Fruits and Juice Factory was commissioned to produce pineapple juice, Casa de Ropa on the other hand cultivates sweet potatoes to produce various kinds of cookies, including pie, chips, bread and pizza.
A working visit to the two sites, involving management of the GEXIM Bank and Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), indicated that the two projects in just some few years of operations employ about 1000 people.
It is estimated that over 3000 jobs would be created by the turn of 2021, with 70 percent of the employees being female and 30% male.
The Central region, though boasts of the best second cycle schools and tertiary institutions and training colleges, it is ranked as the fourth poorest region in the country.
Management of GEXIM believe that the 1D1F initiative would help take the region out of poverty.
Ekumfi Fruits and Juice Factory
The factory, which consists of Processing and Packaging plants, Pack Houses, Ware Housing, Storage Facilities, Packaging units and Distribution terminals, sits on a50 acre land at EkumfiNanaben in the Ekumfi district.
It was commissioned in 2017 by President Akufo-Addo and started operations in 2019. Its main purpose is to produce three different varieties of fruit juices, but currently producing two varieties, namely the Pineapple Juice and the Pine-Ginger. It intends to commence the third variant which is the pine-tropic very soon.
Machines and Equipment for the juice preparation
A tour of the processing plant showed the sophisticated machines that are used in processing the juice. In the processing room, which has a 100 by 50 meters floor, stands a gigantic Extracting Machine, which aids in the sorting and extraction of juice from the fruits.
There are several tanks containing water, acid and caustic, that are used to clean the machines and equipment in order to kill germs and prevent consumers from taking in poisonous juice.
There is also a Stirring Machine which stirs the fruit for purposes of uniformity and a sieving equipment to sieve all the pops to ensure that the juice is smooth.
There is also a Pasteurising Machine which is used to kill germs and help the fruit to stay on shelves for a period of 6 months without going bad.
After all these processes, the juice then moves to the High Care Area, where it is packaged in a box and given a production date, expiry date and others for purposes of tracing it on the market should anything go amiss. The juice also goes through a 14-day quarantine to ensure that it’s good for consumption.
According to the Factory Manager, Mr Sydney Doodo, the company believes in local content and also doesn’t want foreign hands dominating the labour force.
He said they have lived up to this mandate and that aside the manufacturing and installation which was done by foreigners, every other thing was done by Ghanaian engineers,which they are very proud of.
Farms for growing the pineapple
According to Mr Frederick KobbynaAcquaah, the Director of Operations, EkumfiFruits &Juice, the biggest need of the factory is the raw material for the production of the juice.
In addition, he said a special out grower model was developed with some communities in the district.
Currently, the company has 19 farms, with the biggest one, which is 65 acres, at EkumfiNakwa, Mr Acquaah indicated.
He said plans are in place to get other places, including Mfantseman, Effutu and Ajumako to engage in growing the pineapple fruit.
Challenges of Ekumfi Juice Factory
The Director indicated that one of the biggest challenges they are facing is competition from other juice producing companies.
According to him, though their juice comes with no additive, which makes it the best, they still have to advertise to compete on the market, because Eku Juice is a start-up and it will take time for people to accept a new product.
Another challenge he spoke about was slow progress as a result of the Covid-19. He said the outbreak of the disease has slowed down their projections, but they will bounce back and achieve their target in no time.
ID1F has come to stay- investorssay
Mr Frank Dan Enyimayew, Manager,1D1F at Ghana Exim Bank, indicated that his outfit was very impressed with how the Ekumfi factory has utilised the money it was given.
He said the bank supports projects based on three main areas; namely the export potentials or import substitutions, job creation and value addition, and all these are evident in the work done by Eku Juice.
He said: “As a state institution, our motive is not to make profit, but promote development, so our benefit is the impact the company is making on the community and we are very happy with what Eku Juice has done in the last few years of its existence.”
He said there are other projects the company wants to support to ensure that this country is industrialised.
He said that 1D1F has come to stay and called on others to come on board and support the idea.
Casa De Ropa
Casa De Ropais also being supported by the Ghana EXIM Bank to produce and process Orange-flesh sweet potatoes for bread, chips, pie, pizza and other pastry products.
It is located at Bewadze in the Gomoa West District in the Central Region of Ghana on 350 acres of land.
This project has not been commissioned yet, but most of the resources and materials it needs for its operation has been completed.
The money invested by Exim Bank was for the construction and development of the Land, planting materials, dam expansion and processing equipment. Others were the warehouse, main factory building and installation, farm house, office and platform construction, farm machinery, road & bridges, irrigation equipment and vehicles.
A visit to the site shows that the 1.5km access road to the farm site from the main Winneba-Cape-Coast highway and bridges have been completed.
The factory building, warehouses for operation and farm houses, which will serve as accommodation for the workers have also been completed.
The development and expansion of dams, which will enable an all year-round cultivation of the crops have also been completed.
Addressing the media, Mr Ebenezer Obeng, the manager in-charge of Casa de Ropa said the company has a direct work force of 154 and indirect work force of 359.
He said the demand for the product is so high that they haven’t been able to meet the demand and, therefore, called on others to support the project.
He said he believes there is a high demand for the product because they are produced with no sugar, which is a great health benefit.
He noted that these products will soon be a substitute to products containing sugar and are normally imported into the country.
The project is very sustainable because they have other farms dotted across the country and called for more hands to sustain the project.
He opined that one of the challenges facing the company is the ability to market the product across the country. He said the products are in high demand and they need mobile vans help in marketing and distribution and called for support.
Ghana has a future with 1D1F
Mr Richard Osei Annan, Director of Corporate Affairs, GEXIM Bank, who also addressed the media said: “Ghana has a future if we should all support this 1D1F initiative. If we are to get at least four factories in every region, that is industrialisation. It will promote rural development and also bring in foreign exchange.
“We should all support this 1D1F idea. It is real. If within two years we have these two gigantic factories in the central region, then imagine what will happen if we have similar ones in other regions.”
He was very impressed with how the two companies have utilised the credit facilities they were given to actualise their dreams, which all Ghanaians will benefit from very soon.
He indicated that there are so many applications from other companies to venture into different areas and based on what Eku Juice and Casa de Ropa has done, other applicants will be screened and given the needed assistance.
The post Ekumfi Fruits & Juice Factory,Casa De Ropa – the success story of 1D1F in Central Region appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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