The Managing Director of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Dr. John Kofi Mensah, has said the Bank will support Outgrower Farmers supplying raw materials to factories under government’s One District, One Factory (1D1F) initiative.
According to Dr. Mensah, industries established under the One District, One Factory in need of agricultural support can rest assured of the Bank’s preparedness to provide needed financial support so they operate at optimum level.
At the opening of Ekumfi Fruits and Juices Limited and Casa De Ropa Limited in the Central Region by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, Dr. Kofi Mensah said the Bank will soon disburse an amount of about GH¢50million to Outgrower Farm Companies operating within the two factories’ catchment areas.
“These factories need a constant supply of raw materials to remain in business, and as our contribution to the IDIF we are giving out loans to, especially, Outgrower Farmers attached to the IDIF factories so they can supply those factories with needed raw materials,” he said.
According to Dr. Mensah, many companies established in the past have not performed to full capacity or even survived due to lack of raw materials; hence the Bank’s decision to support the outgrower farmers so as to ensure the availability of raw materials for sustaining the factories and creating more jobs.
The ADB Managing Director said the IDIF initiative by the government of His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is the biggest industrial programme in recent years, and has potential to fully transform the ghanaian economy.
“Our association with such key government projects, especially those related to agribusiness, is a manifestation of the Board’s new direction to ensure the Bank focuses on its mandate of agribusiness financing,” he said.
He commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his foresight and vision with the IDIF initiative, and assured him of ADB’s support toward all initiatives aimed at making Ghana food-sufficient.
