The minister of Trade and industry Hon. Alan Kojo Kyeremanteng has paid a working visit to Appian Menkah Complex. The visit forms part of president Nana Akufo-Addo vision to revive all the indigenous companies that has collapsed and facilitate the growth of the manufacturing sector in the country.
Appiah Menka Complex ltd, the Apino and King soaps maker which was redundant for nearly six years, will through the One District One Factory, be recapitalized to enable the company resume production, latest by July next year.
Apino soap, King soap and Mama Oil were celebrated household brands since 1979, but faded on the market in the last decade. The producing company was named after its founder, Mr. Akenten Appiah Menka, one of the post-independence pioneer industrialists in the country.
The company has a 50 metric-ton per day installed capacity for its vegetable oil refinery and fractionation plants, with the soap making unit capable of producing four metric tons per hour.
The company went down in 2014, following years of financial challenges and intense market competition.
Through the 1D1F, the now dormant manufacturer will receive five million dollars to procure high-tech equipment and restart operations.
The Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen, said government will not relent on injecting capital into dormant but viable indigenous companies to get them back on their feet.
The minister also advised Ghanaian businesses that are doing well to have a sustainable succession plan to be able to stand the test of time, adding that government is considering succession planning as one of the requirements for private companies interested in participating in the One District-One Factory (1D1F) programme.
The company’s Deputy Managing Director, Kweku Appiah Minkah, who expressed his gratitude to government, said if the company becomes fully operational; it will create many job opportunities for the youth.
He said the company operates a 1000-acre palm plantation and a palm oil mill, serving as its source of raw materials adding that hopefully production will resume latest by the second quarter of 2021.
