Sugar policy in the offing – Mahama

Government is preparing to put in place a national sugar policy to help develop a competitive private sector-driven sugar industry in Ghana, President John Dramani Mahama has said.

Mr Mahama said this during the inauguration of the refurbished Komenda Sugar factory on Monday May 30 at Komenda.

He also revealed that plans are also underway to establish additional sugar factories in the Greater Accra and Northern regions.

The Komenda Sugar factory is expected to provide over 7,000 jobs to Ghanaians. According to President Mahama, the country has a huge potential to become a major sugar producer.

He said: “We are also pursuing similar sugar industry projects currently at the design stage in Greater Accra, along the lower Volta River and also in parts of the Northern region in the Savelugu area and also the Buipe area”.

“Just as Komenda has succeeded, I am confident that the other sugar plants that we are planning will also succeed. In furtherance of this, I am happy to inform you that government, through the Ministry of Trade and Industry, is preparing to put in place a national sugar policy, which will create an enabling environment and institutional framework for the development of a globally competitive private sector-driven sugar industry in Ghana.

“It is worthy of note that since government took this initiative to construct the Komenda sugar factory, many investors have come expressing interest in investing in the sugar sector in Ghana. Agronomic studies continue to emphasise the potential for sugar production in Ghana, particularly in parts of the drier Northern savannah regions and have identified specific locations with attractive drainage, water resources and topographical attributes for sugar production”.