The tour of the Company, located at Asuom in the Eastern Region, formed part of MTN Foundation’s economic empowerment programme. The Foundation has built a palm oil processing plant at Juaso for the beneficiaries and the tour was to build their capacity on the operation of the machinery.

The beneficiaries, who used to work in open spaces at various locations within the Municipality, have been relocated to one central point where the Foundation has provided them shelter as well as the needed equipment to operate.

They have also benefitted from series of workshops on Business Management and Book Keeping, organised by the MTN Foundation, in collaboration with the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI).

Mr Andrew Owusu Bempah, the Production Manager of Serendipalm Company Limited, who took the producers through the production processes, underlined the need to prioritise safety measures to avert injuries.

He said it was important to keep the environment clean and urged them to depart from their old ways of processing palm oil as they were being provided with modern equipment. Mrs Cynthia Mills, the Economic Empowerment Advisor of MTN Foundation, said MTN, as part of its corporate responsibilities, was committed to supporting identifiable groups engaged in economic activities to realise their full potentials.

She said the tour was to afford the women the opportunity to learn at first-hand how to produce palm oil in a clean and safe environment. She said it formed part of efforts to adequately prepare them as they would, from next, start operating in the new factory built for them at Juaso.  

Madam Theresah Owusu, the Chairperson of the group, praised MTN for organising the tour, which, she said, was educative and had exposed them to new methods of processing palm oil. She expressed the hope that the knowledge acquired would significantly impact on their work and, thereby, improve their incomes.