The Ghana Export and Import (EXIM) Bank has released a funding mechanism of GH₵7.7million to finance the entire Ekumfi Fruits & Juices Company Limited located in Ekumfi Abor in the Central Region.
Available information suggests that part of the money has already been spent in the acquisition of implements such as tractors, tricycles and pick-up vehicles needed for operations for the first phase of the project.
Suppliers of plant and machinery for the factory have also commenced manufacturing of the plant and will soon be ready for shipping to Ghana.
The National Coordinator for One-District-One-Factory Secretariat, Gifty Ohene Konadu, who confirmed this in a telephone interview said installation of the plant and machinery for the factory will commence in the first quarter of 2018. She was giving an update on the Ekumfi Fruits & Juices Company Limited and the outlook for 2018.
The contractor, consultant and engineers are already on site in preparation for the necessary excavation and leveling works for the construction of the factory building, she added.
Additionally, 600 out-growers who have been registered and their lands verified have been grouped on block farms in four (4) different communities for training.
Training for the first batch comprising 80 farmers from Ekumfi Ayisam, she noted, was held on Tuesday, December 19, 2017 with the remaining batches expected to receive theirs in January, 2017.
She is very optimistic that construction of the factory building will be completed on schedule.
Outlook for 2018
Touching on the outlook for 2018, she disclosed that three agro processing plants are ready for sod cutting following their successful passage through evaluation at the Secretariat and their subsequent approval by the Banks.
The projects include; Amantin Agro Processing Plant; Asikess Ventures Limited; and Kpetsu, Adaklu Agro Processing Plant.
All the three plants will wholly rely on cassava for production.
Apart from that, the Secretariat has forwarded 60 business plans or proposals to some participating financial institutions to study. 28 of such proposals were submitted to GCB Bank while the remaining 41 were submitted to Ghana EXIM Bank.
The business plans, she added, were submitted between the period of October 6 and 21 December, 2017. Ten (10) additional projects have also been submitted to the African Development Bank (AfDB) for funding.
According to Madam Ohene Konadu, four (4) of the business proposals have been processed by the banks and credit reports written on them for onward submission to the Risk Department and Board for final approval.
Additional four (4) of the business proposals are still in the processing stage with the promoters of these businesses expected to provide further documents to the banks for processing and credit report to be completed.
The banks, she further noted, have made initial contacts with promoters of forty-two (42) business proposals. However, the said promoters are yet to get back to the banks with their first set of documentation for the process to be completed.
The proposal cover five (5) main broad sectors namely; Agro Processing – Livestock (10); Agro Processing – Crop (27); Hospitality/Fashion (15); Manufacturing (other than agro products) (16); and Health (1).
