Chairman of Competitive African Rice Platform, Ghana Chapter, Yaw Adu Poku says the local rice sector has now received an ‘angel investor’ to maximise and promote the production of local rice.
He said after several pleadings and solicits, he managed to secure an investment from the Jospong Group for the rice sector.
According to him, the Jospong Group had already paid a visit to Thailand to understudy Ghana’s failure to survive in local rice production.
Mr Poku noted that the company, this month paid flight tickets for thirty-three experts from Thailand to be in Ghana for the next year for a full-scale study to identify the gaps in Ghana’s rice production.
“Now we have an angel investor in the rice sector so next year you will see a different story altogether. Somehow I solicited, pleaded, and begged on my knees and I got the Jospong Group's involvement.
“This man did not only come in, he went to Thailand to understudy why Ghana cannot produce rice, and then just this month he has brought in thirty-three experts from Thailand on his own ticket to live in Ghana for the next year.
“He wants them to do a full- cycle for us to understand where the gaps are, that is the angel investor we have,” he said on Newsfile, Saturday, December 24.
For this reason, Mr Poku is optimistic that the narrative about the local rice sector would be different from 2023.
In 2020, Ghana spent $ 391 million on the importation of rice, becoming the 20th largest importer of rice in the world. In the same year, the country recorded rice as the 3rd most imported product.
Over nine million tonnes of rice was imported into the West African sub-region, representing about $3.4 billion of import bill in 2021.
In 2019, the Government began a campaign to promote local rice and improve the production of the product.
The “Eat Ghana Rice” campaign is part of a series of initiatives that have been rolled out under an Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) funded project to improve rice production in Ghana.
However, the campaign seems to have not yielded enough results as the country continues to surge in the importation of rice. In this regard, some Ghanaians have called on government to replicate Nigeria’s ban on the importation of rice in 2015 to boost the local sector.
Latest Stories
-
Baby abandoned in manhole in Tema Community 1
6 mins -
We’ll establish fiscal council to rein in excessive borrowing – Finance Minister
13 mins -
Mortuary workers issue fresh strike threat
17 mins -
‘Lapses in banking system are not unique’ – John Awuah on managing fraud in Ghana’s Banks
24 mins -
Bawumia confident of victory in 2024 election
59 mins -
Strengthening audit institutions essential for tackling fiscal mismanagement – Domelevo
1 hour -
Healthy Aging: The Role of the Gut Microbiome and How Diet Can Help
1 hour -
Seek medical care, diagnosis for breast cancer – Dr Abiti to women
1 hour -
Hardship: Men now collect marriage list from different families to get cheapest – Report
1 hour -
‘If you’re looking for trouble, you’ll get it,’ Falz tells VeryDarkMan
1 hour -
Paramount Chief of Avenor grateful to NPP, calls for completion of Agenda 111 project
2 hours -
Bawumia commissions ultramodern office complex for Ho Municipal Assembly
2 hours -
Bawumia declares NPP’s infrastructure record unmatched
2 hours -
Importers face duty on Electric Vehicles despite gov’t’s exemption promises
2 hours -
4 additional Democracy Hub protesters discharged
2 hours