"Incredible potential" in Ghanaian food processing sector, say consortium of multinational food companies
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“Incredible potential” in Ghanaian food processing sector, says consortium of multinational food companies
Group including General Mills, Cargill, The Hershey Company, Bühler Group and others hails progress and potential of Ghanaian agribusiness on visit to local businesses in Accra
Accra, Ghana, March 5, 2025 – A group of multinational food companies, part of a consortium under the global nonprofit Partners in Food Solutions, recently visited local food businesses in Accra. The group witnessed firsthand the transformative work being done to improve food processing and scalability, and praised the growth and potential of Ghana's agribusiness sector.
Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) is a consortium of leading global food companies – General Mills, Cargill, dsm-firmenich, Bühler, The Hershey Company, Ardent Mills and The J.M. Smucker Company – which provides African food companies with pro-bono technical support in order to help strengthen their capacity. In Ghana, Partners in Food Solutions has supported 36 local companies, connecting them with 348 experts who provided over 10,000 hours of pro-bono consulting.
The Partners in Food Solutions Board, which includes executives from its consortium members such as General Mills CFO Kofi Bruce and Cargill vice president Sarah Jelkin, convened this week in Accra, Ghana for their board meeting. This is the first time the Board has met in Africa since the organization's establishment in 2011.
A press conference concluded the visit, where a panel including PFS CEO Mandla Nkomo, General Mills CFO Kofi Bruce, and Kwasi Nyamekye, CEO of Vester Oils, a PFS client, discussed the challenges and opportunities for growth in Ghana’s agribusiness sector with the PFS consortium’s continued support.
Board members also visited OXY Industries, a food processing and packaging company in Tema, and Gold Coast Foods, a herbs and spices production company, to see Partners in Food Solutions’ unique business-to-business development model in action. The Board met with local entrepreneurs and witnessed firsthand how Partners in Food Solutions is empowering Ghana’s food sector through their direct engagement with Ghanaian food processors.
“This visit reinforces the confidence in Ghana’s food processing industry,” said Mandla Nkomo, CEO of Partners in Food Solutions. “Ghana is uniquely positioned and has incredible potential to drive food security solutions – not only for its people but across the West African region and wider continent. With the right expertise, investment, and partnerships, local food businesses can drive continued growth in the agribusiness sector, which will ultimately create more jobs, improve access to nutritious food, and strengthen the agricultural supply chain.”
Ghana’s agribusiness sector is a key driver of the country’s economy, contributing 24.5 percent to national gross domestic product (GDP). And, the sector is expected to grow by 2.7 percent annually through 2028.
By fostering strategic partnerships between global corporations and local businesses, bringing global expertise to Ghana, Partners in Food Solutions is aiming to support this growth, meanwhile creating sustainable opportunities within the sector and helping to build food systems security across the region.
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About Partners in Food Solutions:
Partners in Food Solutions, a consortium of leading global food companies – General Mills, Cargill, dsm-firmenich, Bühler, The Hershey Company, Ardent Mills and The J.M. Smucker Company – works in partnership to help strengthen the capacity of more than 2,400 African food companies in 11 countries. Employees of our corporate partners share their technical and business expertise directly with entrepreneurial Africa food companies with the goal of improving food security across the continent. More than 2,300 corporate partners' employees have contributed 170,000 pro-bono consulting hours, working directly with our African clients to improve food quality, safety and availability.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Nikki See, Partners in Food Solutions
[email protected] | +1-612-242-9852 (WhatsApp available)
Harvey Presence, Marchmont Communications
[email protected] | +44 7582 195 497