China Expresses Interest In Salt Production

china is far advanced with feasibility studies to establish a large salt production base in Ghana.

The Asian tiger is currently looking at acquiring a land of approximately 730 square kilometre to start the project to satisfy its vast need for the product.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), who dsiclosed this to the Graphic Business on December 8 after the launch of the Africa Investment Forum, explained that promoters of the project had also contacted the China Africa Development (CAD) Fund, which had agreed to fund the multi-billion dollar project.

The President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills made a request to the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) to organise the forum in Accra, moving it from its traditional South African and Nigerian bases for the first time in many years.

The Chinese salt project is expected to span a vast stretch of the Kpone-Ada-Keta area, that’s the Eastern part of the southern belt of the country, but Mr Aboagye believes that with technology, China could expand the project to parts of the country stretching to the Western coastline.

The project, which could take between two and three years, according to the GIPC, would not overcrowd local producers but rather complement their efforts since they could serve as feeder producers, known in agriculture as outgrowers.

Currently, although Ghana has great potential for industrial salt production on the West coast, it has ceded the premier production position to Senegal, which produces in large quantities.

With simple technology, Ghana is said to have the capacity to produce three million tonnes of salt per annum. However, some analysts believe that China with its rich technology could produce far more than the country's estimate.

The GIPC boss said while China would use the salt it would produce in Ghana to support its development, the local economy would also benefit as the country prepares to become a major player in gas processing and the petrochemical industry.

On the Africa Investment Forum, Mr Aboagye said some of the gains that would accrue to the country from the hosting of the February 8-10 forum include fostering business partnerships to develop Ghana's key viable sectors.

The GIPC boss said the centre would start by promoting information and communications technolgy and agro-processing which were among the sectors with the fastest turn-around times.

A team from the centre is already going round key regions in the country to identify and encourage viable project promoters to participate in the forum, which would assemble some of the best brains in management and investment consultancy, private sector investors, policy makers and business magnates.

Mr Aboagye appealed to the private sector and government agencies to take full advantage of the opportunity to come out with projects for marketing.

The Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Gideon Quarcoo, who chaired the session, said Ghana was a good destination for a range of ICT projects such as business process outsourcing, which the government was currently developing to generate between 30,000 and 40,000 jobs within the next two years.

He said the government was currently working on expanding accommodation facilities to receive the many BPO companies that had either shown interest to set up in the country or desire to expand their operations.

The forum would come out with a project book for easy identification and ease partnerships across Africa. Share Your Thoughts on this article Name Email Location Comments Graphic Ghana may edit your comments and not all comments will be published