Chinese sugar milling company, Bui Sugar Limited, has broken ground on a new sugar factory expected to produce a total of 60,000 metric tonnes of raw sugar annually for local consumption and export in Ghana.
The establishment of the sugar factory is under the government’s One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) initiative at Fawoman in the Banda District of the Bono Region and also benefits from an equity agreement between Bui Sugar Limited and the Bui Power Authority (BPA).
Under the initiative, BPA has provided a total of 13,000 acres of land to Bui Sugar Limited for the cultivation of sugarcane plantations to feed the factory when it begins operation.
So far, the investor has cultivated 250 acres out of the 1,200 acres, which have been cleared.
According to Wang Wei Hua, the general manager of the company, the work, and installation of the equipment should extend over 18 months.
Once in operation in December 2024, the miller will churn out a total of 60,000 tonnes of raw sugar per year, making it the largest sugar factory in the country.
In terms of socio-economic benefits, the project is expected to ultimately generate more than 6,500 direct and indirect jobs in the sugar sector. In Ghana, sugar consumption is around 400,000 tons annually.
According to World Data Atlas, Ghana’s sugar cane production was at the level of 153,956 tonnes in 2021, up from 153,428 tonnes the previous year, a 0.34% growth.
The government also recommissioned Komenda Sugar Factory, which has been under lock and key, mainly because managers of the factory say there are not enough raw materials to feed the factory.
The factory began to deteriorate until the Government, in November 2019, signed a partnership agreement with a Ghanaian-Indian company; Park Agrotech Ghana Limited, expected to pump some US$28 million into the project to revive it.
President Nana Akufo-Addo said a four-acre land was being prepared to support sugarcane development to feed the factory.
The Komenda Sugar Factory was expected to create some 7,300 direct and indirect jobs at full operational capacity with a crushing capacity of 1,250 tonnes of sugarcane daily.
The sugar-producing factory was first established in 1964 by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah but became defunct over the years due to technical difficulties and setbacks.
The factory was established primarily to produce sugar locally to reduce importation and for commercial purposes and to create employment, which, up to today, the goal has not been met.
