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A deputy Trade Minister, Herbert Krapa, is advocating stronger value chains to boost Ghana’s industrialization efforts.

According him, building a resilient local supply base for multinationals and manufacturing giants as part of their value chain, directly affects almost every aspect of an economy.

According to him, “the inconsistencies in the supply end of many value chains, shortages of essential products, and volatility in the prices of raw materials and finished goods have revealed the limits of sourcing in distant economies” and has therefore challenged multinational companies in Ghana to target sourcing a greater percentage of their supplies domestically by building stronger capacities of these supply sources to support a robust production chain.

“Government through the Planting for Foods Jobs initiative, 1D1F, 10-point industrialization agenda has designed key modules to enhance the capacity of farmers and increase production of food and other agricultural products in the short to medium term."

Government, he revealed, remains committed to supporting the manufacturing sector especially in the area of value addition, adding that the Ministry of Trade and Industry has embarked on an import substitution programme aimed at adding value to locally available resources for domestic consumption and export.

“If we are successful” according to Herbert Krapa, “local industries will operate more profitably at scale, and consumers alike, will enjoy cheaper prices”.

The deputy minister made these comments at the commissioning of the Guinness Ghana Limited’s Achimota Brewhouse, on Thursday 2nd September, 2021.

Other dignitaries at the event included the United Kingdom’s Minister for Africa, James Duddridge, GRA Commissioner General, Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, MD of Guinness Ghana, Helene Weesie, MD of Diageo Africa Emerging Markets, Andrew Cowan, Chiefs and major distributors of Guinness products from selected regions of the country.

Currently, Guinness Ghana is sourcing 61 percent of all raw materials locally, and with the full operation of the 145 million Ghana Cedis worth Brewhouse, Guinness intends to increase its local sourcing of materials to 70 percent by 2024.

The new plant will allow the brewhouse to conserve more than 30 percent of energy compared to other energy systems which will translate into a 150 percent increase in production capacity.

This would also assist the company to double the amount of sorghum uptake from 20,000 tonnes to 45,000 tonnes used for producing its beer products.

Through this programme, over 30,000 farmers have been engaged actively, and more than 210,000 people across the country have taken direct benefit from it.

On her part, Helene Weesie, Managing Director of Guinness Ghana expressed gratitude to government of Ghana for the unflinching support to Guinness Ghana for the past 61 years. She stressed that, the company is currently implementing some initiatives to build technical capacities and offer financial assistance to some local famers in 11 regions in the country to support the increasing demand for raw material to feed the new brewhouse.