The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has today, Thursday, 17th June 2021, commissioned the new factory of Premium Foods Limited.
The company is operating under Government’s 1-District-1-Factory initiative.
The President in a reaction to the commissioning said “having invested in this new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, with the capacity to blend over ninety-six thousand (96,000) metric tonnes annually of maize, soybean, sorghum, and millet, it is gratifying to note that Premium Foods is one of the few manufacturing factories with such capabilities in West Africa”.
It was his home that very soon, it will be said that Premium Foods is one of the few in Africa with such capabilities.
The President said ”the establishment of this factory is a concrete manifestation that the new paradigm of economic development, which this administration is vigorously pursuing, of insisting on value-addition industrial activities within a conducive and business-friendly environment, can make headway”.
He added, “the contribution of Premium Foods Limited highlights Ghanaian ingenuity, entrepreneurial spirit, as well as the fortitude to succeed no matter the challenge”.
Over the years, Premium Foods has supplied blended fortified and non-fortified products and ingredients to global organisations, including international relief organisations and multinational food and beverage manufacturing companies across Africa, including “Feed the Future” programme, under the US Government’s Global Hunger & Food Security Initiative.
“I am pleased to learn that this new factory is generating some 120 new jobs, made up of technical and management professionals, and is creating thousands of indirect income-earning opportunities for farmers and out-growers along the value chain, mostly women and youth, in all parts of the country,” President Akufo-Addo said.
He reitared Government’s support to supporting private sector operators, like Premium Foods, to become globally competitive, and, thereby, take advantage of market integration frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose Secretariat has been established and commissioned in Accra.
“To this end, Government, as at December 2020, has granted import duty exemptions to 36 companies, under the 1D1F programme, amounting to some ¢435 million,” he said.
“The main sectors that have benefited from the exemptions are agro-processing, ceramics manufacturing, hardware manufacturing, and vehicle assembly plants. Prospective companies desirous of establishing such ventures, under the 1D1F initiative, are assured of Government’s unwavering support, and I appeal to them to join hands with Government in the journey to industrialise Mother Ghana, and help create jobs for Ghanaian youth in all parts of the country”.
President Akufo-Addo commended the collaboration between the World Food Programme (WFP), the Canadian High Commission in Ghana, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), Department for International Development (DFID), the J.A Kufuor Foundation, as well as local participating financial institutions for providing both technical and financial support to this project.
By: Rainbowradioinline.com
