Chinese investors are set to build the largest sugar processing factory in Ghana around the Bui dam in the Banda district of the Bono region.
Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Power Authority, managers of the Bui Dam Hydro Power Generation Station (BGS), Mr. Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, said the Authority had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chinese investors to build the factory.
Mr. Dzamesi said construction work on the factory would begin in June this year and expected to be completion in 2024.
One of the country’s sugar factories, the Komenda sugar factory has been a white elephant for many years.
Over the years, governments have promised to revive the factory to battle the unemployment rate in the country.
In 2022, President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, gave the hint of the inauguration of the factory when he paid a courtesy call on members of the Komenda Traditional Council as part of his two-day tour to the Central Region.
He later inspected progress of work on the factory to ascertain the next line of action with respect to the inauguration of the facility.
He expressed his commitment towards seeing the bouncing back of the factory to its full production capacity.
“We are determined to ensure that there is quality work done at the factory before we commission it for production,” he said.
Meanwhile the factory is yet to be commissioned for production.
According to the Bui Power Authority, it had also released about 13,000 acres of land to the Bui Sugar Limited, the investors’ company at Fawoman in the district.
The authority also explained that, the company has already planted about 250 hectares of sugarcane to provide raw materials to feed the factory.
Mr. Dzamesi noted that, under the MoU, the BPA is an equity holder.
This project was revealed when Mr. Samuel Dzamesi accompanied the Bono regional minister, Madam Justina Owusu Banahene to take a tour around the site as a part of a two-day working tour to the Bui Dam site.
Accompanied by some members of the Bono Regional Security Council as well as some Municipal and District Chief Executives in the region, Madam Owusu-Banahene was at the site to get herself abreast with the operations of the 400 megawatts hydro-electric power generation dam.
Mr Dzamesi also added that the project had created jobs for about 500 people in the area, saying the factory would create more than 5,000 indirect jobs to the local people when completed.
Describing the project as another great national asset which would open up the area for rapid economic growth, Mr. Dzamesi expressed appreciation to President Akufo-Addo, the Banda District Assembly and the local people for their support and cooperation.
He said that paved the way for construction to begin and thanked the traditional authorities in the area for their support and cooperation.
Mr. Wet Hua,the Managing Director of the Bui Sugar Limited, said ploughing was still on-going for the company to cultivate more sugarcane to feed the factory.
He said the project had also constructed a dam and was building irrigation facilities to improve water supply and expand the sugarcane plantation.
Mr. Hua lauded the relationship between the company and the BPA and the local people and expressed hope it would be strengthened for mutual benefit.
Madam Owusu-Banahene said she was highly impressed about the project and entreated the company to employ more of the locals.
This according to her would put a sense of ownership in the minds of the local people.
She also indicated that culture and tradition reflect the identity of the people and urged the Chinese workers to respect the culture and dignity of the locals to make their stay happy and comfortable in the enclave.
The Banda District Chief Executive Mr. Emmanuel Akoneh, also added that the area was among the poorest revenue generation districts in the country hence the factory would help to improve on its revenue mobilization.
He also used the opportunity to call on traditional authorities and all stakeholders in the district to support the assembly to strictly enforce the anti-bushfire bye-laws to stem the recurring fire outbreaks which had become an annual ritual in the area.
The factory when completed would produce about 60,000 tonnes of sugar for export and for domestic use.
