A United Kingdom (UK)-based agrifood investment firm, Agrium Capital, has signed an agreement to advance $270 million to support Ghana’s efforts to transform its poultry industry.

The agreement was signed with the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme (24H+) in London yesterday, following the signing of the Heads of Terms by the two parties on August 22 this year.

Partners to the agreement, including Petra Trust, Axis Pension Trust and Ghana EXIM Bank, witnessed the ceremony, which marks the next phase of the investment project’s development.

The latest agreement, described as an addendum, will advance the technical and investment work required to translate the initial framework into a productive poultry industry.

The project is expected to increase domestic poultry production, strengthen food security, create 12,000 direct jobs and reduce Ghana’s annual $400 million import bill for chicken and poultry products.

The first phase is projected to produce 20,000 tonnes of dressed and processed broiler products annually, with the capacity to increase output to 50,000 tonnes.

Investment strategy

Speaking to the Daily Graphic after the signing ceremony in London yesterday, the Presidential Adviser on the 24H+ Programme, Augustus Goosie Tanoh, said the agreement underscored the programme’s strategy of mobilising domestic and international private capital into productive sectors.

He explained that the addendum consolidated the partnership and marked progress from investor engagement to the preparation of a commercially viable project.

Mr Tanoh described the poultry programme as a practical example of combining foreign private capital with Ghanaian institutional investment to build industry on a large scale.

The partnership brings together Agrium Capital, a subsidiary of Asset Green Ltd, Petra Trust, Axis Pension Trust and Ghana EXIM Bank.

The integrated platform will cover the entire poultry value chain, including feed production, breeding, hatchery operations, broiler production, processing, cold-chain infrastructure, logistics and market access.

UK-Ghana cooperation

The UK has welcomed the investment as a boost to trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, which hosted the August signing ceremony in Accra, has been cited as a catalytic partner in bringing international investors, domestic institutional capital and the government together around the programme.

The Managing Director of Petra Trust, Kofi D. Fynn, said the participation of Petra Trust and Axis Pension Trust demonstrated the pension sector’s readiness to commit long-term capital to productive investments.

“We are ready to put our capital to work in support of the goals and objectives of this country,” he said.