President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has inaugurated a fertiliser manufacturing company at Dawhenya in the Greater Accra Region to boost the country’s fertiliser production.
It is the second fertiliser manufacturing company established with the support of the government in less than a month.
OmniFert Fertiliser Company, wholly-owned by a Ghanaian, has the potential to become the largest fertiliser manufacturing company in the country.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, the President applauded the owner of the company for establishing such a world-class facility.
He stressed the need for the country to invest in the manufacturing sector to propel the country towards the vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid.
“We must produce more locally to satisfy the demands of the domestic market, and we must equally produce in excess to meet international demands.”
“Companies like Omnifert can help in achieving our goal of making Ghana the agricultural hub of West Africa,” he said
President Akufo-Addo encouraged the private sector players in the agriculture value chain to come to support the government to realise the Ghana Beyond Aid vision.
He called on companies in agricultural mechanisation, irrigation and water management, warehousing, food manufacturing and processing, logistics, cold storage and transportation, information technology and telecommunications, to join hands and support the government.
“I have great confidence in the Ghanaian’s sense of enterprise, creativity, innovation and hard work, and believe firmly that, given an enabling atmosphere, the sky is the limit for us.
“The promoters of Omnifert provide the evidence. I congratulate them on this remarkable achievement, and encourage them to continue to be shining examples of Ghanaian success,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the creation of a buoyant agricultural sector was at the heart of his government’s transformation agenda, the sector was still the anchor of the country’s economy.
“Today, through our flagship programme for the revival of Ghanaian agriculture, dubbed “Planting for Food and Jobs,” we have provided support to some one million smallholder farmers, who produced, last year, a bumper harvest.”
“For the first time in a very long while, we exported food to our neighbouring countries, and we have also signalled our intention to reduce rice imports by at least 50 per cent this year. There is every indication that this year’s harvest will be even greater than last year’s,” he said.
He applauded OmniFert for blending fertilisers locally, and offering the right blends to farmers according to their crops and specific soil types.
“It will, surely, help create jobs for those of our youth interested in agriculture, and will increase productivity on our farms,” he said.
BY YAW KYEI