Minister of Commerce commissions detergent manufacturing plant in Tema

Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen joined key stakeholders to commission a state-of-the-art detergent manufacturing plant owned by African Consumer Products Limited.

The factory, located in Tema in the Greater Accra region, is expected to directly create jobs for the country’s teeming unemployed youth.

Delivering the opening speech at the ceremony held on Thursday, July 1, 2021, Mr. Kyerematen congratulated the senior executives of Wilmar Africa Group and Kapa Oil Refineries Limited for gracing the occasion.

The Sector Minister praised the management and staff of Wilmar Company for their dedication and hard work, and for establishing “this state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, especially during this time of very Covid-19. difficult “.

“Today, we are taking another giant step forward in our country’s industrial transformation program, which aims to make Ghana the new manufacturing hub in Africa.

“With this in mind, the government recognizes the importance of attracting private sector operators to invest in productive sectors of the Ghanaian economy by taking full advantage of available local resource endowments, as well as attractive incentives offered. by the government to support the private sector, ”Kyerematen noted.

According to him, the establishment of the factory underlines the importance of such a strategic partnership between the private sector and the government in the pursuit of its common goal of creating jobs and bringing prosperity to the people of the country.

This new detergent manufacturing plant, Kyerematen explained, will provide direct employment to around 220 people, which will improve their livelihoods and those of their dependents.

In addition to the above, he said that the establishment of the company will boost the government’s strategic effort to replace imports, especially in sectors where there is local capacity for added value.

In 2020 alone, he said Ghana imported more than $ 40 million worth of soaps and detergents that could easily have been produced in Ghana.

With an installed capacity of 60,000 metric tonnes of soap per year compared to an estimated national demand of 100,000 metric tonnes, this new plant will help bridge the gap between demand and supply of soaps and detergents.

He lamented that the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic not only disrupted the global supply chain for goods, but also damaged livelihoods.

The wake of the pandemic, he said, has also increased awareness about hygiene and personal care, leading to a significant increase in demand for soap and household cleaning products, thereby boosting growth. of the detergents market.

“With the detergents market expected to record a cumulative annual growth of over 4%, I believe this business will thrive not only in Ghana but in Africa as a whole, taking advantage of the Continental Free Trade Area policy. African (AfCFTA).

“As the host country of the AfCFTA Secretariat and one of the first African Union member states to sign and ratify the AfCFTA Agreement, the government has taken concrete steps to establish a national office for the AfCFTA. AfCFTA and has also developed a comprehensive national action plan to help Ghanaians manufacturers take full advantage of the opportunities offered by AfCFTA, ”Kyerematen noted.

In addition to the enormous benefits that AfCFTA presents to the Ghanaian private sector, he said companies located in Ghana have “quota-free duty-free” access to markets in the United States, the European Union and the United States. UK.

“Indeed, today marks the start of the operationalization of the Ghana-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Let me assure the business community that the Ministry of Trade and Industry has put in place measures to ensure that Ghana continues to benefit from these various trade liberalization frameworks, ”said Minister of Sector .

According to him, the market access opportunities offered under the trade agreements that Ghana has signed are a powerful stimulus to attract foreign direct investment to Ghana.

As part of the new National Export Development Strategy implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, he asserted that Ghana is seeking to achieve value exports of US $ 25 billion by 2029 in non-traditional exports.

He was convinced that the Wilmar Group, with its excellent product line, will greatly contribute to the achievement of this goal.

According to him, Ghana is on the way to a major take-off of industrialization and there is no better time than now to “bring us into operation this new industrial facility”.