TIAST Group, which offers expertise in constructing starch processing factories, has brokered a deal with Stanbic Bank to offer financial assistance to starch processors, as well as serve as an off-taker of the starch for sale in China and some parts of the Asian market. Through this, the company targets to help make Ghana self-sufficient in starch production to save the country from spending large amounts in foreign exchange to import starch. To create awareness of this lucrative opportunity, TIAST Group together with Stanbic Bank organized an agricultural industrialization conference themed “Financial and Technical Boost for Processing Cassava, Corn, Rubber, etc”, at Golden Tulip in Kumasi.
In attendance were the Chief Director of Ministry of Trade and industry, Mr. Patrick Nimo, the Regional Director for Agriculture, Rev. John Manu, the Manager of Ghana Export Promotions Authority, Mr. Banda Khalifa, the Director of Investor Services at Ghana Investment Promotions Authority, the Regional Directors of various governmental bodies, investors, farmers and businessmen and women. In addition to ending import of starch, the company is targeting Chinese market for exports and earn foreign exchange to help stabilize the cedi.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Trade and Industry in his speech outlined the main purpose for partnering and inviting TIAST Group into the country is to industrialize the cassava economy with increased investment in value addition, manufacturing technology, efficient supply chains and development of relevant skills for all players in the chain to make a decent and sustainable return on their labour, efforts and investment.
He commended TIAST Group for inculcating the technical and localization scheme in its projects and went ahead to urge all commercial and small-scale farmers to come to a consensus and be competitive in the industry to create an effect in the agricultural value chain. Mr. Nimo elaborated on how the project will help Ghana to grab an envisioned share of export value of about USD 4 billion.
During the event, a Business Development Executive of TIAST Group, Irene Sackey explained that the projects form part of the agriculture industrialization agenda to help local entrepreneurs build cassava processing plants, which would produce starch for the Chinese market and subsequently the local market.
According to her, Ghana has the raw material production advantage over China, and TIAST seeks to provide technology and technical support, as well as access to the Chinese market to the companies they’ll be partnering with. She said, “There’s a lot more we can get out of cassava than just making fufu. That’s what TIAST is trying to encourage people to do. “In Ghana, we have the farming experience which China does not have. We can plant all year round; we can harvest all year round. And when we even harvest, the yield is more than what the Chinese get.” Unfortunately, Ghana is not adding value to the raw material, making the export value very low.
To remedy this situation, Madam Sackey explained that TIAST, working in conjunction with Stanbic Bank, would provide about 80% financial investment for local businesses who want to go into starch production, with the condition that all products produced would be sold at the international price of $485 a ton. She touted Ghana’s suitability towards an agricultural industrialization agenda, especially with the government’s flagship ‘One District, One Factory’ policy and the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative, saying that “all these initiatives by the government show that this is what the country needs. Our goal here is to promote industrialization.”
As part of their missions, TIAST seeks to localize and standardize the development of agricultural processing industry. Mrs. Alberta Sefa- Boampong, a Business Development Executive explained that they will provide technical training for staff of these companies that will be set up, as well as after-build servicing of machines, to ease the work of local companies who hitherto would have had to import parts and get technicians from the same China to service their machines in case of any breakdown.
As part of this plan, TIAST will set up a spare parts manufacturing plant at Dawa, in Tema, to provide after-build services to their local partners. “It will serve as a one-stop shop for all agricultural processing machine and spare parts, and this gives us the capability to resolves any repair and part replacement in the shortest possible time”, She said.
TIAST Group is a conglomerate that consists of the Torchbearer International Agricultural Investment and Management at Hangzhou, Torchbearer International Agricultural Science and Technology Development (Beijing), Beijing Torch Relay Technology Centre, TIAST West Africa, and First Machinery Group.