Bawumia accredits Ghana’s largest fertilizer plant under 1D1F

The Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has inaugurated Ghana’s largest fertilizer factory at Asuboi in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region. With a production capacity of over 800,000 metric tonnes per year, the Glofert Fertilizer Factory, a wholly-owned Ghanaian company built under the One District One Factory initiative is the first fertilizer production plant outside the Tema Industrial enclave.

Consequently, the factory will produce all kinds of fertilizers notably Urea, Ammonium Sulphate, as well as NPKs which are widely used by farmers in Ghana and across the continent of Africa.

According to officials of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture they said that, “Ghana has an annual fertilizer requirement of 600,000 metric tonnes.”

Bawumia expressed his ecstasy at the successful alliance between government, represented by the One District One Factory Secretariat, and the private sector represented by Glofert Limited, which had led to the creation of jobs and the production of increased crop yields for Ghanaian farmers.

Commenting on this he said, “There is something special about today. Today we are adding one more major step towards achieving the President’s vision of building a Ghana Beyond Aid, because one of the pathways to achieving this vision is through agricultural transformation — making farming attractive, increasing farmers’ productivity, increasing their income and making it possible for agriculture to support industrialization.”

“The Government of H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been very keen about delivering on its promise to create a viable, self-sustaining economy. One of the means by which this can be achieved is through modern industrialization and to reduce our dependence on the outside world through imports to produce our own food,” and this would largely be done through the One District One Factory Initiative, the Vice President indicated.” He added.

According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, 181 1D1F Projects are at various stages of implementation. As at mid-year 2019, 57 projects are in operation and 22 are under construction. An additional 33 projects financed by local PFIs are ready for implementation before the end of 2019. 56 Small Scale Processing Facilities projects under the Enable Youth initiative financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) will begin construction across 56 Districts before the end of 2019. Five (5) Common User Processing Facilities projects to be owned by organized farmers groups, funded by the AfDB will commence construction before the end of 2019.

Bawumia further noted, “In addition, Eight (8) large scale processing plants financed under the China National Building Materials (CNBM) Corporation facility are currently being processed to begin implementation before the end of 2019,”

He also disclosed that government has recently obtained parliamentary approval for tax incentives framework covering various tax exemptions for companies seeking to operate under the 1D1F programme, including five years tax holiday; waiver from import duties and taxes on equipment, machinery and parts; waiver from payment of duties and levies on raw materials; and a waiver from the payment of withholding taxes.

Bawumia urged the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Cocobod and other stakeholders to now buy from domestic sources and not waste valuable foreign exchange on imports of fertilizer going forward.

In conclusion, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Glofert, Rev Foster Mawuli Benson, expressed gratitude to the government for the support which has led to the establishment of the factory that has provided full-time employment for 35 persons and casual employment for 180 others.