The newly established industrial salt production plant worth US$88million at Ada in the Greater Accra Region is estimated to yield about US$2billion to the economy in the short to medium term.
The project holds the potential to become the country’s leading export commodity to the African market under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Ada Songhor Salt project, owned by Electrochem – a subsidiary of the McDan Group of Companies, also has the potential to create more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in the near future.
Chairperson of McDan Group of Companies, Daniel McKorley, describes the Electrochem project as a game-changer in the quest to grow the economy.
Nigeria is one of the leading consumers of salt on the continent and imports in excess of 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum, with over 80 percent of its industrial salt needs coming from Brazil.
This presents a huge opportunity for Electrochem to penetrate the Nigerian market, thereby making in-roads to the bigger AfCFTA market.
The salt concession covers an area of approximately 41,000 acres lying within the jurisdiction of both the Ada East and Ada West local government administrative districts of the Greater Accra Region. First phase of the project is the production of salt while the second phase is the establishment of a world-class salt refinery.
The third involves a chlor-alkali plant for the highest level of industrial demands.
In terms of acreage, the project is the largest in Africa but has been lying dormant as an industrial salt-producing area since 1982.
According to Daniel McKorley, with deliberate efforts and the right financial facility, one can easily scale up the project to the 15 million MT per annum in five years. Electrochem intends that the project will be a major source of foreign exchange by 2026 under AfCFTA.
Additionally, the Minerals Income and Investment Fund (MIIF) has revealed plans to support development of the salt industry in Ghana, with the Ada Songhor Lagoon as its utmost priority.
Ultimately, this investment seeks to ensure that Ghana benefits from the many uses of salt, especially as a core input to support the industrialisation agenda of government.
