Abanga Farms & Food Systems Limited, a Ghanaian agricultural-based company, has taken delivery of the first consignment of top-quality beef from MEATCO, the Namibian meat producing and exporting company, to distribute in Ghana.
The partnership is the first of its kind between the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regions.
At the ceremony at the Tema Harbour, the Chief Executive Officer of Abanga Farms & Food Systems, Mr. Thomas Abanga, hailed the partnership as forward-looking with the expectation that the partnership’s benefits to Ghana and Namibia would be immense and long-term.
He called on Africa’s private sector to step up and propel Africa’s development and not rely solely on their governments to lead Africa’s economic emancipation. He said the problem with Africa’s underdevelopment is not entirely the government’s but also the inability of the private sector to take risks.
“It is the private sector that can propel the economic development of Africa…it is time for the private sector to step up.”
Mr. Thomas Abanga
The partnership, he concluded, will strengthen the agriculture sector of both countries, particularly the livestock sub-sector, whose true potential remains untapped in Ghana.
Africa to thrive if it consumes what the continent produces
In her opening remarks, H.E. Madam Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, the High Commissioner of Namibia to Ghana, called on African countries to increase inter-trade within the continent still reeling from the impact of Covid-19 and the current Russia-Ukraine war. She noted that Africans would do well if they consume what the continent produces and stop depending on goods and products from outside the continent.
She expressed hopes that the partnership between Meatco and Abanga Farms & Food Systems would expand beyond Ghana and Namibia and move into other African markets.
“I am particularly proud of the partnership because it aligns with the economic diplomacy the Namibian President, H.E. Hage Geingob, charged me with when he allowed me to be the commissioner to Ghana.”
H.E. Madam Selma Ashipala-Musavyi
Trade between African countries has the greatest potential for achieving economic growth
Professor Bani, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Abanga Farms and Food Systems, thanked the management of Meatco “for having confidence in Ghana to lead this process of inter-African trade.”
“Abanga Farms and Food Systems will take advantage of the Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC) provisions and MOUs to expand trade and technology transfer between Namibia and Ghana. Trade between African countries has the greatest potential for sustainable economic growth and integration, and we must take advantage of it.”
Professor Bani
Relations between Ghana and Namibia go far back to the colonial era
Namibia is a major producer and exporter of beef and beef products like corned beef. It meets the rigorous requirements of Europe and America and has the certification to operate in those markets’ very demanding food industries. Namibian meat is also, crucially, halal compliant.
Relations between Ghana and Namibia go far back to the period of the liberation struggles of that country against European colonialists and Apartheid racism. The support of Ghana’s first president, who remains an icon to the people of Namibia, was pivotal in keeping the struggle alive.
Successive Ghanaian governments played their parts, but President Rawlings’s government took the lead in establishing diplomatic relations with Namibia in March 1999. Still, despite all that political will, people-to-people contacts and trade have been minimal.
The Abanga Farms & Food Systems and Meatco partnership may be the initiative to push the door wider for others to move in.
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