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Ghana will not earn any profits from the sugar products produced at the Komenda Sugar Factory for the next two decades as the government has leased the facility to Indian investors.
Minister of Trade and Industry Kobina Tahir Hammond announced this plan during a press briefing after touring the Komenda Sugar Factory on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. He clarified that while the factory remains fully owned by the Government of Ghana, the investors will manage the operations and make lease payments to the government.
“The entire facility belongs to the Government of Ghana. We are leasing it out, and there’s a board in place to oversee its operations. The investors are simply in charge of managing it,” said K.T. Hammond.
He emphasized, “We will not have any shares in the products they produce, but the company remains 100% Ghana-owned.”
Discussing the lease duration for West Africa Agro-tech Limited, the Trade Minister mentioned, “I am considering a lease of 15 to 20 years, with an option for extension or renewal after the initial term.”
Hammond also highlighted that the government had spent GH¢45 million to maintain the Komenda Sugar Factory. He noted that West Africa Agro-tech Limited, the investors, had brought in 1,000 tonnes of raw sugar for a test run to assess the production of white sugar.
In November 2019, the Government of Ghana handed over control of the Komenda Sugar Factory to a strategic investor after a three-and-a-half-year closure. The $35 million factory, inaugurated by former President John Dramani Mahama, has been inactive since May 2016.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in September 2018, explained that the sale was necessitated by several issues, including a lack of sufficient sugarcane supply in the surrounding area.
tigpost.co
