Volta gets two new companies under 1D1F
Despite challenges that have confronted the smooth implementation of the government's ‘One District, One factory’ initiative, the Volta Region has had two more companies completed and operating successfully.
The companies — Moonlight Fresco Ltd, an agro processing company and Flosell Limited, a fish farming company, are both sited within the South Tongu District.
Moonlight Fresco Ltd is a new company that was completed and started operating in 2019, while Flosell Limited, which has been operating for the past six years received financial support in 2018 to expand its operations under the policy.
The new entrant, Moonlight Fresco Ltd., occupies a 3000-acre land with a large-scale commercial farm.
Currently, 200 acres of okra, 100 acres of papaya, and 800 acres of banana are all being cultivated by the company for export.
Challenges
The factory, which has close to 400 employees, has not been without challenges. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the company's prospects on the international market.
The challenges became more pronounced following the year-long border closure which affected exports through flights and shipments. However, Flosell Limited, which is engaged in tilapia rearing, has now expanded its operations to increase its workforce to 55 and has created over 100 indirect jobs.
Some workers with some tilapia fishes at Flosell
The Manager of the company, Mr Kwadwo Danso, said the support from the initiative had boosted its productivity and output.
Despite the good news, the region is still lagging behind in the implementation of the initiative as most of the factories listed are yet to be to be constructed.
The region is expected to have about 37 factories, but only four, including two existing factories that received financial support under the 1D1F, are flourishing.
One of the new factories, Hormeku Engineers and Planners (HoPE), which was scheduled to have been completed in January 2021, is still under construction four months after its due date and is currently at the roofing level.
Financial backing
The government in 2018 provided financial backing for two pre-existing factories in the region as part of the initiative.
Caltech Ventures, a bio fuel production factory and the Volta Forest Products Limited, a timber processing company in the Ho and Hohoe municipalities respectively, received government funding to boost operation and employment.
Other factories, including honey and cassava processing factories at Afadjato South and the Keta Municipality are, however, yet to see the light of day due to funding delays and precarious land litigations which have dealt huge blows to the initiative.
While the operating space for Hormeku Engineers and Planners (HoPE) Limited in the Keta Municipality is yet to be completed, community members, including the teeming unemployed and farmers in the area, eagerly await its benefits.