Hights Enterprise Limited, with support from the German Development Cooperation, has officially launched a new processing center equipped with modern oilseed processing machinery in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region. The initiative aims to expand agro-processing, create decent jobs, and strengthen the role of women-led cooperatives in Ghana’s agricultural value chains.
The support forms part of the Women Supplier Development Programme, implemented by GIZ in partnership with Hights Enterprise under the Invest for Jobs brand of the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The programme seeks to create employment opportunities for 250 women and improve their incomes through value addition in baobab, sesame, soybean, groundnut, and shea value chains across the North East and Upper East Regions.
Hights Enterprise is an agro-processing firm based in the Yorongo community in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region of Ghana. The firm processes cold-pressed groundnut cooking oil, sesame oil, baobab oil, moringa oil, peanut butter, and roasted peanuts. It currently employs over 30 rural women out-grower farmers who supply the processing factory with raw materials.
As part of the project, 400 women out-growers have been mobilized into 20 registered cooperatives, supported by GIZ in collaboration with Savannah Communication and the Department of Cooperatives.
At the official launch of the facility, Eunice Agyeiwaah Agyepong, Component Lead, Ghanaian SME, Invest for Jobs at GIZ Ghana, speaking on behalf of John Duti, Team Leader of Invest for Jobs, GIZ Ghana, highlighted the significance of the intervention.
“This new facility and equipment will improve efficiency, create decent jobs, and expand market opportunities. By working closely with women cooperatives, we are strengthening rural economies and building sustainable structures that benefit households and communities.”
On his part, Mr. Matthew Akayeti Naamlebna, CEO of Hights Enterprise Ltd., welcomed the launch of the new facility and the support received. He emphasized that the processing equipment will greatly improve the company’s efficiency and capacity to meet the growing demand for both edible and cosmetic oils and their by-products, while contributing to rural employment and local economic development.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Donatus Akamugri Atanga, who officially commissioned the facility, applauded Hights Enterprise and its partners for the initiative. The Minister pledged the government’s commitment to supporting local businesses, particularly those linked to agriculture, such as Hights Enterprise.
Source: A1Radioonline.com | 101.1 MHz | David Azure | Bolgatanga
