President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has commissioned the 2.1-million-dollar rubber processing plant at Wassa Dompim, in the Wassa East District of the Western Region.

The Narubiz Rubber Factory is a 100% Ghanaian owned company with current capacity to process 20 tonnes of rubber daily for export to Turkey, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.

The factory is expected to export a total volume of 6,240 tonnes of processed rubber annually, amounting to US$9.6 million of forex into the economy.

The project is owned by three shareholders, each of them having a rubber plantation of 200 acres and more.

The factory, whose construction began on February 10, 2020, currently offers direct and indirect employment to over 1,340 employees, including out-growers, latex harvesters, farm maintenance workers and transporters.

The company is sourcing its raw materials from Western, Western North and Central Regions and this is going to boost rubber production in these catchment areas.

The Ghana Commercial Bank provided a US$1.38 million loan facility to the company out of the US$2.1 million used to put up the plant, under the One District-One Factory Initiative, being implemented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Commissioning the factory at the commencement of his two-day tour of the Western Region, President Akufo-Addo noted that the siting of the factory in the Western Region would encourage more Ghanaians to engage in the cultivation of natural rubber in the catchment area, as well as other neighbouring regions to feed the state-of-the-art factory.

With Ghana’s emerging automobile industry, he expressed confidence that the factory would play a critical role in the development of component parts for the auto industry.

These include vehicle tyres, car seats and fan belts, which could be produced from the raw materials currently being manufactured from Narubiz Rubber Factory.

President Akufo-Addo commended the business promoters and traditional authorities of the area for their unflinching support for the project.

He also commended the GCB Bank for providing the loan facility for the establishment of the factory.

He said the factory had been granted import duty exemptions on plant, equipment, and machinery from the Government, which among other incentives, had been designed to boost the competitiveness of the companies operating under the One District-One Factory programme.

Government through the Ministry of Trade & Industry has supported Narubiz with Interest Subsidy, exemption on machinery and equipment, as well as a transformer for the smooth operations of the company.