[ad_1]
On Thursday, September 10, 2020, President Nana Akufo-Addo inspected the work in progress on the construction of the $ 16 million Weddi Africa tomato processing factory located at Domfete, in Berekum, East Bono Region.
The factory, a project operating under the Government’s 1-District-1-Factory initiative, is a wholly owned Ghanaian company, which will have an installed capacity to process 40,000 metric tons of fresh tomato per year.
This translated to 720 boxes of tomatoes per shift per day, and the factory also owns a 500 metric ton cold room facility to store fresh tomato fruits.
The company has established a 2,400 acre farmland as a core farm and also spearheaded the establishment of the Tomato Growers Association in the Tano North and Berekum West Districts, with 2,000 registered farmers from the Ahafo and Bono regions.
In fact, the 2,000 farmers are programmed to receive seeds, fertilizers and other inputs and technical services from the relevant MDAs, with all these mechanisms in place to ensure the sustainability of the factory.
President Akufo-Addo was informed that, once fully completed, the factory will create around 186 direct jobs, with more than 3,000 indirect job opportunities in the Berekum West district and other surrounding communities.
The government, the president said, is committed to supporting private sector operators such as Weddi Africa Limited in positioning themselves to be globally competitive.
In doing so, also take advantage of the market opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Secretariat of which has been established and commissioned in Accra.
In addition, he told the meeting that the Government has established an institutional mechanism to provide strategic support and assistance to the national private sector operating at the district level.
“I am referring to the Business Resource Centers that have been established in sixty-seven (67) Districts throughout the country, thirty (30) of which have already begun to operate.
“1D1F companies will benefit from the assistance that the BRCs will provide,” he added.
He congratulated the promoters of Weddi Africa Ltd. for establishing such a modern facility in Domfete, Berekum, in the Bono region, in support of the Government’s Industrial Transformation Agenda.
And he appealed to Nananom and the residents to give their maximum cooperation to the promoters of the business, to ensure its success, which, he explained, will be the success of Nananom and the residents as well.
