By Laudia Sawer
Tema, June 3, GNA – Do not put hurdles in the way of people who genuinely want to invest in Ghana, especially in the agricultural sector,” Reverend Nicholas Broni, a Ghanaian palm investor in Rwanda, has appealed to the government.
Rev. Broni, the Founder and Leader of LETAD Agro Rwanda Limited, speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the bureaucracy in doing business in Ghana was too much, and the trend of needing someone to introduce businesses to people in authority was not helping the country.
He said, unlike Ghana, there was no bureaucracy in meeting ministers and stakeholders to facilitate investing in sectors of their economy.
Recalling how his company went to invest in Rwanda, he said LETAD was the one that introduced palm plantations to Rwanda, stating that as a freight forwarder by profession, he attended the Global Conference in 2019 where he noticed that there were palm plants doted almost everywhere, and his enquiries revealed that they were using them as ornamental plants.
He added that, to his surprise, he found out that the people of Rwanda relied on Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for their palm oil supply, which they use for their delicacy ‘Nsombe, which is made from cassava leaves.
The LETAD Founder added that after returning to Ghana, he contacted some of the people he networked with during the conference on the possibility of investing in palm trees in the country, indicating that a return visit to other provinces convinced him and his partners that palm was available in all the provinces of Rwanda.
“Even at the premises of their agricultural ministry, palm trees are available. They agreed to try it, so we registered with the company and had a demonstration farm. We are planting palm trees to get raw materials for processing palm oil and other by-products.
He said Ghana must fully utilise its palm trees to benefit all those on the food chain, including the farmers and processors, stating that “we need to organise our palm resources so well that it will benefit every stakeholder on the value chain.”
Rev. Broni added that Ghana could maximise its agricultural products to cater for the needs of the people, stating that, for instance, Rwanda did not import its staples, which are meanly beans and Irish potatoes.
He added that they produced enough vegetables to meet their consumption needs and their meat products, which ensured that all stakeholders in the supply chain could get their fair share.
GNA