The Komenda Sugar Factory, Ghana’s most persistently stalled industrial project, has been given its clearest operational target yet, with Trade Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare telling Parliament on Tuesday that the facility should be running by the end of 2026 as the government moves to end the country’s 500 million US dollar annual sugar import habit.
Speaking on the floor of the House, Ofosu-Adjare explained that the factory, commissioned in 2016 with a design capacity to process 1,200 tonnes of sugarcane and produce between 112 and 150 tonnes of refined sugar daily, had never operated at full capacity due to compounding technical and financial failures. Plant machinery has not been refurbished since construction, generators and motors need maintenance, and part of the boiler system requires replacement.
The physical deterioration is matched by financial collapse. The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWL) have both disconnected the facility from their services because of unpaid accumulated bills. The factory has also built up significant debt, while the outgrower scheme originally designed to supply sugarcane stalled due to weak institutional support and unclear procurement arrangements.
The ministry has prioritised the engagement of a Transactional Advisor to package the factory and secure a private sector operator through the 2026 budget, with the minister assuring Parliament that inherited utility debts would be resolved as part of the incoming investor’s cost structure.
An Interim Management Committee (IMC), chaired by lawyer Kwame Owusu Sekyere, has submitted a preliminary assessment covering the factory’s assets and liabilities, business viability and raw material supply chain. Land has been secured for sugarcane cultivation in the Komenda area, and the minister noted that farmers in the enclave already have expertise in cane farming and responded with readiness when consulted.
Ofosu-Adjare said a fully operational Komenda Sugar Factory could create more than 7,500 jobs and described the revival as strategic, not just industrial, arguing that cutting down the 500 million US dollar annual sugar import bill would directly ease pressure on Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves. The factory is to operate under the government’s 24-Hour+ Economy policy and be supplied with raw materials through the Feed The Industry programme.
Parliament also heard that Cabinet has approved two new cashew processing factories for the Bono and Bono East regions as part of the same agro-industrial push. The minister disclosed that 79 Ghanaian firms attending trade fairs in China, Germany and Italy secured 325 million US dollars and 2.7 million euros in export orders, while 850 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) received business advisory support.
On automotive manufacturing, a draft Ghana Automotive Component Manufacturing Development Policy has been circulated to relevant ministries and will be aligned with the Finance Ministry before Cabinet submission, with the policy designed to attract investment into vehicle parts production and position Ghana as a regional hub under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has also been engaged to extend the export proceeds repatriation period to 120 days from the current 60 days, and the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA) has deployed a single-window export platform to cut clearance times.
