Food and Agriculture Minister Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto has inaugurated a newly constituted 11-member board of directors to steer affairs of the Twifo Oil Palm Plantation (TOPP).
TOPP, which was originally owned by the Central Region Development Authority, has gone through several management phases – including Unilever.
Inaugurating the board, Dr. Akoto explained that: “The Company has temporarily been in the hands of some selected people, but now we want to formalise the whole corporate arrangement to make TOPP a more profitable venture”.
He said there is a need to aggressively pursue the country’s agenda of prioritising tree crops such as palm, cashew, mango, shea, coconut and others to serve as useful alternative trade commodities apart from cocoa.
“The ministry has estimated that the six tree crops when harnessed and well marketed could generate annual revenue of US$16billion compared to cocoa’s of some US$2billion yearly. This board has the responsibility to contribute significantly in making the country’s palm oil more exportable to bring increased revenue,” Dr. Akoto noted.
Chairman of the board, George Boahen Oduro, said the members will work assiduously to enhance the fortunes of TOPP and make it a more attractive and viable company. “The expectation by MoFA and government for this board is huge, and we want to contribute to raising the fortunes of TOPP as required and expected of us,” Mr. Boahen Oduro said.
Out of the 11 members, six representatives are from MoFA with the rest from the National Investment Bank, TOPP, SIC Insurance PLC, PZ Cussons and PSL Investment.
Representatives from MoFA include George Boahen Oduro (Chairman), Richard Twumasi Ankrah, Oseadeeyo Kwesi Kennin IV, Dr John Ampontuah Kumah, David Klotey Collision and Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah.
Other members are Kwaku Oppong-Duah, NIB; Daniel Kojo Nyame, TOPP; Faris Elias Attrickie, SIC; Abena Ntrakwah-Mensah, PSL Investment; and Sekar Ramamoorthy from PZ Cussons.
