GHANA – Ghana nears competition of rehabilitation works on locally owned agro-processing company Central Oil Mills Limited.

The project which is 90% complete is undertaken through the government’s 1-District-1-Factory initiative.

Operating two factories in Jukwa Mfuom and Asamanso in the Hemang Lower Denkyira District of Central Region, the company specializes in oil palm development and palm oil processing.

Central Oil Mills, established in 2010 was identified as one of the potentially viable but distressed companies for the government’s Industrial Transformation Agenda.

To this end, an organisational audit was conducted by a team of technical consultants from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, who recommended the company to the Ghana EXIM Bank for support under the 1D1F programme.

In 2018, Ghana Exim Bank, approved a Medium-Term Loan Facility of GH¢12 million (US$1.98m) for Central Oil Mills Limited to expand its oil palm plantation, rehabilitate the existing primary crude palm oil processing factory at Jukwa-Mfoum and establishment a brand-new value-addition oil palm processing factory.

The Bank subsequently approved a supplementary loan of GH¢2 million (US$330,000) for the project, thus bringing the total loan approved for the project to GHS14 Million (US$2.31m).

The new factory at Asamanso and the expansion work at Mfuom are about 95% and 90% completed respectively, and are both expected to be fully completed by 30th November 2021.

According to the Presidency of Ghana, the project involves the expansion of an existing oil palm mill with a processing capacity of 2,400 metric tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per annum into a bigger mill with a minimum capacity of 24,000 metric tonnes of FFB per annum on double shifts.

With a yield of 20%, this will produce 2,400 metric tonnes of palm oil per annum which could be processed into secondary canned and bottled products.

In addition, through the revitalisation process, the company has increased its storage capacity from 30 metric tonnes to 150 metric tonnes.

Central Oil Mills Limited has rehabilitated it existing oil palm plantation and has initiated the process to expand its plantation by 200 acres per annum over five years.

This is will be complemented by the acquisition of new trucks, and farm implements to support cultivation and transportation. The company also has existing nucleus farms at Jukwa Mfuom and its environs and also about 50 out-grower individuals.

The project is expected to create a minimum of 200 direct jobs from its current skeletal workforce of 30 persons when fully operational.

More than 500 indirect jobs will be created within two years at both factory sites and the plantation.

Central Oil Mills targets both the local and export markets for its finished products such as South Africa, Italy, Netherlands and Nigeria, creating an opportunity to generate foreign exchange for the country.

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