Ghana has concluded a report on feasibility for a partnership between it and Morocco’s OCP and for the establishment of a fertilizer plant in Ghana. Officials from Ghana and the OCP are currently discussing the report in Morocco.
The Senior Adviser in the office of the President in Charge of Ghana’s Fertilizer Expansion programme, Nana Serwah Bonsu-Amoako, made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Marrakesh, Morocco.She was among participants from Ghana who attended the 10th annual Argus Africa Fertilizer Conference in Morocco.
According to Nana Serwah, the partnership was in furtherance of an agreement signed between OCP and the Government of Ghana in September last year to develop the plant making use of Ghana’s gas resources. She said the cost of the plant was estimated at two billion dollars for which the government had been looking for investors to partner.
OCP, Nana Serwah said, had shown commitment to the kind of partnership needed but that arrangement had not been finalised yet. OCP is the host sponsor of a fertiliser conference which is Africa’s biggest networking event for fertiliser trade. It is aimed at sharing ideas on how to improve on crop yields by maximising fertilser use.
In a panel discussion, the Tanzanian Minister of Agriculture, Mr Japhet Hasunga, said Africa was faced with a challenge of how to feed its increasing population. To remedy the situation, he called for availability of agricultural inputs, including affordable fertilisers and production technologies. The minister estimated that by 2050, Africa’s population would hit 2.5 billion.
For his part, the Director of Agriculture and Agro-industry Department of the African Development Bank, Mr Martin Fregene, stressed the need for agriculture to be aligned with trade policies to achieve the desired results.
Source: www.allafrica.com
