The facility, which is expected to begin full production by the end of 2024 is being done through an equity agreement between the Bui Sugar Limited, a Chinese company, and the Bui Power Authority (BPA).

Under the initiative, BPA has provided a total of 13,000 acres of land to the Bui Sugar Limited for the cultivation of sugarcane plantation to feed the factory when it begins operation.

So far, 250 acres out of the 1,200 acres of land which has been cleared, has been cultivated with sugarcane by the investor.

When the entire 13,000 or 6,000 hectares of land provided under the collaboration is cultivated and the factory starts full operation, it is expected to produce a total of 60,000 metric tonnes of raw sugar annually for local consumption and for export.

These came to light when the Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BPA, Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, visited the facility to see how it is progressing.

Construction

Shedding light on the operations of the Bui Sugar Limited, the Managing Director of the company, Wan Wei Hua, explained that the actual construction of the factory block would begin in June, this year.

"The construction of factory and installation of equipment is expected to last for one-and-a-half years before the commencement of production," he said.

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He explained that currently the company's focus was on the provision of adequate raw materials and preparations for the construction of the factory block.

Mr Hua said 500 local people had already been employed for the cultivation of the sugarcane plantation for now, adding that about 1000 more people would be added by the time that the factory will start production.

Agreement

For his part, Mr Dzamesi explained that BPA entered into agreement with the Bui Sugar Limited in March 2022 since the Act that established the authority empowered it to enter into such agreements.

He said it was expected that the facility would provide about 1,500 direct employment and more than 5,000 indirect employment when it was in full operation.

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Mr Dzamesi expressed his gratitude to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and board members of BPA for the approval of the establishment of a facility that would go a long way to improve the socio-economic lives of people in the area and beyond.

He asked management of the company and the chiefs and people of the area to continue to corporate to ensure peaceful co-existence for the successful completion and operation of the sugar factory.

On how much BPA will earn from the sugar factory, Mr Dzamesi explained that "The agreement we have with them is on equity. That is if they produce sugar we take a percentage. I cannot disclose the percentage but I want to assure you that nobody can cheat BPA".

Bono Regional Minister

For her part, Ms Owusu-Banahene said "I am impressed by how this project is been executed. I think it will be the game changer to the people of this area, the Bono Region and the whole country".

She observed that beside the production of raw sugar, the by-product could also be used for the production of animal feed among others.

Ms Owusu-Banahene added that the execution of the sugar factory project was an indication of what the government's 1D1F initiative could do to improve the socio-economic lives of the people and called on Ghanaians to support the initiative.

She commended the BPA for its foresight and called on other CEOs in and MMDCEs to emulate such an example and come up with laudable initiatives that could rake in incomes to the country.

Mobilise resources

The Banda District Chief Executive, Emmanuel Akone, appealed to the Bono Regional Coordinating Council to pay particular attention to the God given assets of the region and mobilise the needed human and material resources to invest in crop production through mechanised irrigation, aquaculture and animal rearing.

"We are proud to be a beneficiary of the on-going construction of sugar and cashew factories under the Government’s One-District One-Factory policy", he stated.