Ashanti business delegation to visit China

A Nine-member business delegation comprising representatives of three assemblies in the Ashanti Region will leave Ghana on January 25, 2018 for a one-week visit to China.

The delegation will finalise previous memoranda of understanding signed with its Chinese counterparts and also lobby  investors for their assemblies.

Led by the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Kumawu, Mr Samuel Addae Agyekum, other members of the delegation include the Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Mr Osei Assibey-Antwi; DCE for Sekyere Afram Plains, Mr Joseph Owusu; and the Paramount Chief of Kumawu, Barima Sarfo Tweneboah Koduah.

Briefing the Daily Graphic on the trip, the DCE for Sekyere Kumawu, Mr Addae Agyekum, said the main aim of the visit was to finalise all arrangements for the commencement of work on a waste-to-fertiliser manufacturing factory at Kumawu.

MoU

Mr Agyekum recalled that on July 31 last year, the Sekyere Kumawu District Assembly and the Tian Yang Industry and Trading signed an MoU to use waste materials to produce fertiliser at Kumawu.

He, therefore, noted that their visit to China would finalise the deal so that members of the Chinese team who were already in the country and mobilising to go to site would begin work on the factory, which represent the district’s component of the one-district, one-factory project.

The leader of the delegation said apart from the waste-to-fertiliser initiative, the Sekyere Kumawu District Assembly would also sign another MoU in China for the construction of a factory to turn cassava into ethanol, flour and other products.

That, according to him, was another priority project of the assembly, which would ensure that farmers in the area were able to maximise their profit through the cultivation of more cassava since the factory would be ready to utilise any amount produced.

Raw materials

Mr Agyekum indicated that the waste-to-fertiliser factory which was expected to become operational by June this year would depend on refuse from other sister districts in the region.

To ensure smooth operation and coordination, the DCE said four transfer sites had been put in place so that the refuse from the various districts would not have to be transported long hours, but dumped at the sites and conveyed in heavy duty trucks to the factory to reduce the cost of transporting the raw materials.

He said on assumption of the waste-to-fertiliser project, the cost of managing solid waste in various assemblies in the region would be reduced drastically since it would be a hot commodity they would need for their operations.

Training of personnel

The DCE mentioned that the fertiliser project, which would be financed through the build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) initiative, would be fully handed over to the assembly based on the final decision they would arrive at after the visit to China.

He announced that one of the most important components of the project was the training of local staff so that they would be able to operate and manage the company after the departure of the Chinese counterparts.

Mr Agyekum lauded Barima Sarfo Tweneboah Koduah, for the support he had provided the assembly, adding that the paramount chief had made available 10 acres of land for the construction of the fertiliser factory.

Foreign investors

The leader of the delegation said another crucial issue to be handled by the delegation to China would be the opportunity to woo investors from China into the country to partner local investors or the government to set up industries to develop the nation.

As an agrarian nation, the DCE said they would focus mainly on looking for investors who would come and add value to the various agricultural products in the country with the motive of creating value addition, as well as creating jobs in the country to reduce the massive unemployment situation in the country.  

He said other areas likely to attract investors included the tourism sector, citing the availability of two waterfalls, crocodile ponds, wildlife sanctuary, paragliding site, among other sites, all located in the Sekyere Kumawu District.