Nano Foods Limited, a revitalised food processing company in Nsawam, has been inaugurated, with a call on Ghanaians to explore all opportunities in the traditional sector of the economy to accelerate the national economic transformational agenda.

The project, which is under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) programme, brings to 77 the number of factories in operation since the inception of the initiative in 2017.

Nano Foods Limited, which came out of the defunct ASTEK Refresh Pineapple Juice Company in the 1980s and 1990s, had only been producing ASTEK Nsu sachet water since it was revived in 2014.

It presently provides about 100 direct jobs for Ghanaians, with hundreds of indirect jobs in the Eastern and the Central regions.

In December 2018, the Ghana Exim Bank approved a capital expenditure loan and a working capital facility of $1,067,600 for the company, which went on to acquire and install a complete pineapple processing and canning line, together with a modern and efficient quality control laboratory.

Economic transformation

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who inaugurated the factory yesterday, said the 1D1F initiative was a major component of the 10-point industrial transformational agenda of the government introduced in 2017.

He said 232 projects under the 1D1F initiative were at various stages of implementation, while 107 projects were under construction.

He added that 13 had been earmarked to come on board, while construction had also begun for 36 factories.

“Other notable investments under the 1D1F initiative include the Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) on ‘empowering novel agri-business-led employment (1D1F Enable Youth)’ initiative. This component of the 1D1F aims at creating new, young and dynamic entrepreneurs to establish agro-processing factories along key value chains in selected districts across the country,” he said.

Agriculture

Dr Bawumia said in addition to the successes of the 1D1F initiative, the government’s efforts to transform the economy through agriculture were also beginning to yield the desired success.

He said Nano Foods would be processing pineapples from farms located mainly in the Eastern and the Central regions for export to the United States, Western European and Middle East markets, adding that “there is confirmed demand for these pineapple products, primarily from Spain, Hungary and Cyprus”.

The export-driven aspect of the project, according to Vice-President Bawumia, would help consolidate the successes achieved so far in improving the country’s trade balance and its foreign exchange reserves.

“For the first time in over two decades, the trade balance, which is the difference between what the country exports and what it imports, recorded a surplus for four consecutive years from 2017 to 2020. Ghana’s Gross International Reserves had also increased from $6.1 billion (3.5 months of imports) in 2016 to $8.6 billion in 2020 (4.1 months of imports),” the Vice-President stated .

He further indicated that the project would contribute to the government’s drive towards reducing the rate of unemployment.

Second phase

On the future plans of the company, the Dr Bawumia said the project, which would require a further $2 million, would re-introduce the ASTEK Refresh juice drinks.

That, he explained, would achieve a turnover of over $10 million with a labour force of about 300 working for the company in the next two to three years.

“Planting for Food and Jobs is our first step; the 1D1F is the second step to linking agriculture with industry. This is the way to enhance agricultural productivity, scale up production, add value to what we produce, create jobs, increase incomes and improve livelihoods,” he stated.

He commended Nano Foods for taking the step to harness the benefits of the 1D1F initiative.

Dr Bawumia also lauded the EXIM Bank, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and all other stakeholders for pioneering the success of the 1D1F initiative.

Industrial transformation

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen, said revamping the defunct ASTEK Refresh Company into Nano Foods was ample demonstration of the importance the government attached to industrial transformation.

To that end, he said, the initiatives introduced had been designed to add value to the natural resources at the grass-roots level to provide decent job opportunities for the youth and women.

“It is also to reduce the importation of goods through import substitution and provide opportunities for export,” Mr Kyerematen added.

The minister further appealed to the leadership of the company and many other industries across the country to draw up succession plans to sustain the factories.

Exports

The Managing Director of Nano Foods Limited, Mr Albert Anti Owusu, said the company had plans to increase its production line by introducing tiger nuts, cocoa beans, snails and garden eggs and adding value to the raw materials during the second phase for export.

He expressed gratitude to EXIM Bank Ghana and other institutions for their support.