Komenda Sugar Factory leased to Indian agribusiness for sectoral growth

GHANA – Komenda Sugar Factory, a Ghanian sugar factory, is set to be put under the lease of Indian agribusiness group West African Agro Limited for a renewable period of 15 to 20 years.

The government is establishing new partnerships with private operators with a view to improving the productivity of the sector.

“We lease our assets to the company that will work on the factory site and pay us in return. The contract guarantees that after a 3-year operating period, enough sugarcane will have been grown on more than 31,000 hectares of available land in different production areas to ensure the supply of raw materials to the factory, “ according to Kobina Tahir Hammond, Minister of Trade and Industry.

The minister added that the government has injected 45 million cedis (US$2.9 million) for the renovation of the 1,250 tonnes cane crushing factory which has been idle since its commissioning in 2016, mainly due to insufficient supply of sugarcane.

However, farmers in the Central Region have voiced their frustration over the unfulfilled. They have given the government and the board of the company a one-week ultimatum to address their concerns.

The cane farmers claim the government in 2022 encouraged them to expand their fields with a promise of purchasing all sugarcane from making them run for loans and microfinancing.

In a twist of events, local media report that representatives from the Concerned Citizens of Komenda Traditional Area voiced that the new management intends to import semi-refined sugar for processing into white sugar, instead of supporting local sugarcane production.

Convenor Samuel Awudza expressed concern, stating, “The work that the farmers here are supposed to be doing, you are outsourcing that work to Indian farmers. We believe the government is about to take away our jobs. We are farmers who have always cultivated sugarcane.”

Many people even took out loans to expand their farms with the expectation that the Komenda Sugar Factory would provide job opportunities. If you are going to replace these jobs with imported brown sugar from India, which will be refined here, what kind of employment are you creating?”

According to FAO data, Ghana imported nearly 340,000 tonnes of refined sugar worth over US$178 million in 2022 to fill its production gap.

Liked this article? Sign up to receive our email newsletters with the latest news updates and insights from Africa and the World. HERE