Brazil To Build Ethanol Factory In Ghana

The Brazilian government is to establish a $300 million sugar cane plantation to produce over 100,000 cubic meters of ethanol at Makango, near Salaga in the Northern region.

Ethanol is expected to become Ghana's fourth major export after cocoa, gold and timber.

The factory would generate 42 Megawatts (MW) of energy from Bagasse, which is the fibrous matter that remains after the sugar cane is crushed to extract the juice.

The factory would use seven MW and sell 35 MW to other power generating companies.

This was disclosed by the Brazilian Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency, Luis Fernando Serra in an exclusive interview with CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE.

Asked why Makango was chosen for the project, the envoy indicated that the soil for the proposed 2700-hectare plantation was good and had enough water from the Volta Lake to do good business.

Commenting on the election of Madam Dilma Rousseff, the first female President of Brazil, Ambassador Serra pointed out that the results mean continuity and also showed the support given to her by the Lula administration.

'The people of Brazil had recognized President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's achievements, the country is having $280 billion in international reserve,' he stated.

He continued: 'Brazil is now the number one producer and exporter of green coffee, orange juice and sugar in the world.

'She is number two in beef and soya bean. Number three in chicken and then number four in corn or maize.'

Ambassador Serra revealed that in 2009, Brazil exported US$ 64.7 billion in agricultural products and imported only US$9.8 billion worth of goods.

He also stated that Brazil recovered from the world economic crisis faster than the rest of the world because it has a very huge internal market that consumes what the country was not able to export.

Serra again disclosed that measures were in put in place in 1994 to control inflation and attract foreign investors, explaining that an open market policy was also adopted.

'Another policy that was vigorously adopted was food security by which Brazil went into intensive and extensive agriculture development with intensive scientific research in all fields of agriculture,' he stressed.

The country 's scientific researchers, the Brazilian envoy revealed, are seriously trying to develop a new type of wheat that could be cultivated in the tropical regions so as to help developing countries, especially those in Africa to save a lot of foreign exchange.

'The African continent is dear to Brazil as we see it as our mirror and it showed clearly in the foreign policy of the out-going administration,' Serra said, adding that 15 African Embassies were opened during his tenure with 11 African trips to 25 countries.'

He noted that Brazil owed a great debt to the African continent, revealing that slaves taken from Africa helped to enrich the Southern American countries in terms of what they did in the mines and sugar plantations.

'Brazil will continue to support the campaign for an African country to become a permanent member of the United Nations,' he stated.

Ambassador Serra advised that Ghana should continue its campaign on intensive agriculture to feed the people and acquire surplus for export.

By Amos Amaglo