Hi Group to invest US$78m in reviving Ghana’s Kamenda Sugar Factory

GHANA – The Hi limit Group, developers of government’s one village one dam programme has signed a purchase agreement to revive the defunct Komenda Sugar Factory at an investment worth about US$78 million reports Ghana News Agency.

The agreement signed under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry will see Hi Limited group produce 37500 metric tonnes of sugar cane annually to feed the sugar factory.

Mr Emmanuel Larbi, Chief Executive Officer of the Hi Limit Group, said that Hi will invest about US$78 million in the factory to ensure it becomes vibrant.

Mr Larbi said similar state-owned factories that have been shut down due to the lack of raw materials will also benefit from the programme which will inspire the farmers to produce large quantities of a variety of crops.

“We are going to employ about 23, 000 youth who will cultivate the B41227 variety of sugar cane using an irrigation technology which will ensure an all year-round supply.”

In September 2018, President Akufo-Addo called upon strategic investors to support the Komenda Sugar Factory which since it’s commissioning in 2016, has not undertaken large scale processing of sugarcane into sugar.

According to an assessment conducted on the sugar factory, it was revealed that unavailability of sugarcane in sufficient quantities in the catchment area was the major reason that saw minimal of operations in the factory.

While the sugar factory has a milling capacity of 1250 tonnes of sugarcane per day, Ghana’s sugar cane production is estimated to be about 151, 000 tonnes.

The government launched the one village, one dam Integrated Agricultural with Renewable Energy for Poverty Eradication Programme (IAREPE) in efforts to ensure sustainability of agro-allied manufacturing firms through supply of raw materials.

Under the IAREPE project, Ghana hopes to construct 440 units of dams and irrigation schemes.

In 2018, the country imported 440,000 metric tonnes of sugar while the sugar consumption is projected to hit 800, 000 metric tonnes by 2030 and relies heavily on sugar imports.