Govt to revamp Buipe PBC Shea Factory

The government is revamping the Buipe Produce Buying Company (PBC Shea) in the Savannah Region to enhance industrialisation, create jobs and stimulate economic growth in northern Ghana.

Established in 2012, the factory is a joint venture company between the government of Ghana and Messrs. LDS Maquinas e'Equipmentos Industrias Limited of Brazil, to add value to shea nuts for export.

However, it was grounded in 2019 due to the lack of funds to procure raw materials for processing shea nuts into shea butter and shea oil for export to Brazil and other countries.

Visit

The Director of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness, Dr Peter Boamah Otokunor, who made this known during a working visit to the facility, said the initiative aimed to particularly empower rural women who are engaged in shea nuts collection and processing.

The shea factory

He said reviving the company was part of efforts to position Ghana as a leading shea export hub in the sub-region and globally.

“We have done an assessment and identified the critical challenges.

With government intervention, we believe we can restore operations and revive the factory,” he stated.

Dr Otokunor said that the factory’s revival would create both direct and indirect employment, enhance value addition in the shea sector and reduce the export of raw shea nuts, adding that it can process 500 tonnes of shea nuts daily when fully operational.

He indicated that the factory had one of the biggest boilers in the country, capable of generating electricity to support the surrounding community, a potential that remains untapped due to the current non-functional state of the factory.

“If we run a 24-hour economy, we could require over 400,000 tonnes of raw shea annually.

The revival of PBC Shea will play a crucial role in achieving this,” he said.

He added that the major challenge the factory faced was securing a consistent supply of raw materials but assured that mechanisms were being put in place to strengthen the supply chain.

Employment prospects

The Assistant Plant Engineer at the factory, Abudu Issahaku, disclosed that the company previously operated at a capacity of 200 tonnes per day, with a workforce of 75.

However, due to the factory's collapse, staffing had dropped to 45.

“If the factory is revived, we are confident it can employ up to 160 workers, significantly improving local livelihoods,” he stated.

Mr Issahaku affirmed that the equipment remained in good condition and that production could resume immediately once the government intervened.