THE Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry has prioritised the engagement of a Transactional Advisor to package the Komenda Sugar factory and secure a strategic investor to ensure its operationalisation, the sector Minister, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has said.
According to her, reviving the Komenda Sugar factory was important as it had not been operational since its establishment in 2016 with the aim of producing between 12MT to 150MT refined sugar daily and create direct and indirect jobs for the people of Komenda.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare noted that her Ministry was currently working on a comprehensive report submitted by an Interim Management Committee (IMC) established by the government following her visit to Komenda to engage stakeholders.
The sector Minister said this while responding to questions on the current status of the Komenda Sugar factory and what was being done to revive it.
“Mr Speaker, given the importance that the government attaches to the Komenda Sugar factory, the Ministry has prioritised the engagement of a Transactional Advisor to package the factory and secure a strategic investor to operationalise the factory and farms in the 2026 budget,” Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said.
She further bemoaned the poor state of the factory and its challenges since its establishment, including the disconnection of the factory from the National Grid by the Electricity Company of Ghana and water supply by the Ghana Water Company Limited due to unpaid bills.
Additionally, Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said, “The facility has accumulated significant debt. Further, the operationalisation of the factory has also been hindered by the lack of raw materials.”
She also revealed that the government had secured a land for the growing of sugarcane for the production of refined sugar under the Feed the Industry Programme through the help of the Chief of Komenda.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare, therefore, assured the House of the operationalisation of the factory once the Transactional Advisor is engaged.
“The factory has accumulated electricity bills, and that’s worrisome. I inherited the same when I took office last year. When we have the transactional advisor and the private sector operator, it will be part of the cost of the plant. So, I can assure the Minister of Energy that even when we bring the plant on stream, the inherited debt relative to the electricity bill will be sorted.”
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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