The first tranche has already been released and spent on the acquisition of necessities such as tractors, tricycles and pick-up vehicles needed for the first phase of the project.

Machinery for the factory is being procured and is expected to be ready for shipment to Ghana soon.

The National Coordinator of the One-district, One-factory (1D1F) Secretariat, Ms Gifty Ohene-Konadu, who confirmed this in an interview with newsmen in Accra yesterday, said the contractor, consultant and engineers were already on site in preparation for the necessary excavation and levelling works for the construction of the factory building.

The interview was to find out the prospects for the Ekumfi Fruits & Juices Company Limited.

She said the installation of the machinery for the factory would begin in the first quarter of the year.

Flashback: President Akufo-Addo tasting some pineapples at the farm for the fruits processing factory

Preparations

Ms Ohene-Konadu said 600 out-growers who had been registered and their lands verified had been grouped on block farms in four different communities for training.

Training for the first batch, comprising 80 farmers from Ekumfi Ayisam, she said, was held on December 19, 2017, adding that the remaining batches were expected to receive their training this month.

She said she was confident that the construction of the factory building would be completed on schedule.

She said 28 proposals had been submitted to the GCB Bank and the remaining 41 to the Ghana EXIM Bank.

The business plans, she added, were submitted between October 6 and December 21, 2017.

She said 10 additional projects had also been submitted to the African Development Bank (AfDB) for infrastructural support.

Work in progress

Of the business proposals, Ms Ohene-Konadu said four had been processed by the banks and credit reports written on them for onward submission to the Risk departments and boards of the various banks for final approval.

She added that four of the business proposals were still at the processing stage and the promoters of those businesses were expected to submit further documents to the financial institutions for processing.

She said the banks had also made initial contacts with 42 promoters and were waiting for those promoters to provide them with the necessary documentation in order to process their applications.

The proposals, which cover five main broad sectors and spread across the 10 regions of the country, are agro processing – livestock - 10; agro processing – crop - 27; hospitality/fashion - 15; manufacturing (other than agro products) - 16, and health, one in all the 10 regions.

Per the regional distribution, the Greater Accra Region has 11 proposals; Brong Ahafo, five; Ashanti, 12; Central, five; Western, six; Volta, three and Eastern, 12.

The rest are Northern, 12; Upper East, two and Upper West, one, bringing the total to 69.