President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has inspected work on Central Oil Mills, a Ghanaian owned agro-processing company at Jukwa Mfuom/Asamanso in the Hemang Lower Denkyira District, Central Region.
The factory, 95 per cent complete, specialises in oil palm development and palm oil processing.
As part of the government’s Industrial Transformation Agenda, Central Oil Mills, established in 2010, was identified as potentially viable but distressed companies.
An organisational audit was conducted by a team of technical consultants from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. They recommended the company to the Ghana EXIM Bank for support under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) programme.
Ghana Exim Bank, on 21st November 2018, approved a Medium-Term Loan Facility of GH¢12 million for Central Oil Mills Limited to undertake three main activities — rehabilitation and expansion of an existing primary crude palm oil processing factory at Jukwa-Mfoum, the establishment of a brand new secondary (value-addition) oil palm processing factory at Jukwa-Asamanso, and the expansion and development of oil palm plantation.
The Bank subsequently approved a supplementary loan of GH¢2 million for the project, thus bringing the total loan approved for the project to GHS14 Million.
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.
The project involves the expansion of an existing oil palm mill with an initial capacity of 2,400 metric tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per annum into a bigger mill with a minimum capacity of 12,000 metric tonnes of FFB per annum on a single shift, with the capacity to do 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.
The company has rehabilitated its existing oil palm plantation and has initiated expanding its plantation by 200 acres per annum over five years. The acquisition of new trucks is supporting this, and farm implements support cultivation and transportation. The company also has existing nucleus farms at Jukwa Mfuom and its environs and 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.
Buyers from South Africa, Italy, Netherlands, and Nigeria are already in discussions with the company to export finished products, thus the opportunity to generate foreign exchange for the country.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
