Brazil’s largest cashew nut firm to set up $25m processing plant in Ghana

A Brazilian processing company, Usibra Ghana Limited, is to establish a $25 million cashew processing plant in Ghana.

The plant, which is expected to process 300 metric tonnes of cashew daily, will provide about 2,000 direct jobs in the country.

The Director of Usibra Ghana Limited, Mr. Tarisco Falcao, made this known when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister of trade and Industry, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, in Accra.

Based on feasibility studies on the project and the business environment in the country, Mr. Falcao advised the President of Usibra, Brazil to invest in Ghana as a Free Zone company to benefit from the attractive incentives, since the business would be export-based.

Usibra is the largest cashew nut processing company in Brazil, with two units capable of processing 70,000 metric tonnes of cashew nuts per season.

The company has subsidiary, Nutsco, in Camden, New Jersey, USA, which processes and distributes cashew and other nuts in the US market. Usibra has an investment potential of $45 million.

Briefing the minister, Mr. Falcao said 80 per cent of the cashew processed in Ghana would be exported to the US and European markets.

He said cashew farmers in the country would be motivated to produce more, as the company was ready to offer better prices for the produce.

Mr Iddrisu said the establishment of the plant would further strengthen the bilateral relations existing between Ghana and Brazil.

He said the government’s decision was to improve the production and processing of cashew, for which reason Usibra’s decision to add value to Ghana’s cashew nuts was a step in the right direction.

He said there was a ready market for cashew in the country and urged the company to work closely with the ministry to achieve results.

The Chief Executive of Ghana Free Zones Board, Mr. Kwadwo Twum-Boafo said the programme “is an indication of what Ghana has been working for to make Ghana the favoured destination”.

Welcoming the company to Ghana, Mr. Twum-Boafo said, “It is gratifying to have a foreigner say “Ghana is where I think my investment is safe”.

Source: Daily Graphic