Ada Community Online
  • HOME
  • HISTORY & CULTURE
  • ASAFOTUFIAMI FESTIVAL
  • VIDEOS
  • GALLERY
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
Monday, June 9, 2025
  • HOME
    Girls in ICT Mentorship Program at MTN House – April 2022

    Girls in ICT Mentorship Program at MTN House – April 2022

    Naval Base to be established in Ada – DCE

    22 communities in Ada-East declared open defecation free:

    MTN support Kwahu Easter festival with GH¢25k, other items

    MTN support Kwahu Easter festival with GH¢25k, other items

    Electrochem’s Songor contract is fake – Ada indegenes oppose McDan salt mining

    Electrochem’s Songor contract is fake – Ada indegenes oppose McDan salt mining

    Shatta Wale overwhelmed by McDan’s progress with Ada Songhor Salt project

    Those against my Ada salt project don’t have Ghana at heart – McDan

    • GENERAL NEWS
    • POLITICS
    • ADA-SPORTS
    • INTERNATIONAL SPORTS
    • BUSINESS & TOURISM
  • NEWS
    Political vigilantism undermines the nation’s drive towards democratic maturity— Peace Council

    Political vigilantism undermines the nation’s drive towards democratic maturity— Peace Council

    ADAWEFROM KEPT FIT ON SUNDAY

    ADAWEFROM KEPT FIT ON SUNDAY

    SEGE: PWDs receive GHC 90.000.00 from District Assembly Common fund.

    SEGE: PWDs receive GHC 90.000.00 from District Assembly Common Fund.

    ADAWEFROM READY TO GET FIT

    ADAWEFROM READY TO GET FIT

    ASAFOTUFIAMI 2020 OFFICIALLY CALLED OFF

    ASAFOTUFIAMI 2020 OFFICIALLY CALLED OFF

    ANOTHER “WEE” PEDDLER BUSTED AT SEGE

    ANOTHER “WEE” PEDDLER BUSTED AT SEGE

    Gays will never have rights in Ghana – Speaker of Parliament Mike Ocquaye

    Covid-19 positive MPs refuse to self-isolate

  • EDUCATION
  • SPORTS
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS & TOURISM
  • OPINION
  • NATIONAL NEWS
    • DEVELOPMENT
    • GENERAL NEWS
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • SPORTS
  • INTERNATIONAL
    • LATEST INTERNATIONAL NEWS
    • INTERNATIONAL SPORTS
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
    Girls in ICT Mentorship Program at MTN House – April 2022

    Girls in ICT Mentorship Program at MTN House – April 2022

    Naval Base to be established in Ada – DCE

    22 communities in Ada-East declared open defecation free:

    MTN support Kwahu Easter festival with GH¢25k, other items

    MTN support Kwahu Easter festival with GH¢25k, other items

    Electrochem’s Songor contract is fake – Ada indegenes oppose McDan salt mining

    Electrochem’s Songor contract is fake – Ada indegenes oppose McDan salt mining

    Shatta Wale overwhelmed by McDan’s progress with Ada Songhor Salt project

    Those against my Ada salt project don’t have Ghana at heart – McDan

    • GENERAL NEWS
    • POLITICS
    • ADA-SPORTS
    • INTERNATIONAL SPORTS
    • BUSINESS & TOURISM
  • NEWS
    Political vigilantism undermines the nation’s drive towards democratic maturity— Peace Council

    Political vigilantism undermines the nation’s drive towards democratic maturity— Peace Council

    ADAWEFROM KEPT FIT ON SUNDAY

    ADAWEFROM KEPT FIT ON SUNDAY

    SEGE: PWDs receive GHC 90.000.00 from District Assembly Common fund.

    SEGE: PWDs receive GHC 90.000.00 from District Assembly Common Fund.

    ADAWEFROM READY TO GET FIT

    ADAWEFROM READY TO GET FIT

    ASAFOTUFIAMI 2020 OFFICIALLY CALLED OFF

    ASAFOTUFIAMI 2020 OFFICIALLY CALLED OFF

    ANOTHER “WEE” PEDDLER BUSTED AT SEGE

    ANOTHER “WEE” PEDDLER BUSTED AT SEGE

    Gays will never have rights in Ghana – Speaker of Parliament Mike Ocquaye

    Covid-19 positive MPs refuse to self-isolate

  • EDUCATION
  • SPORTS
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS & TOURISM
  • OPINION
  • NATIONAL NEWS
    • DEVELOPMENT
    • GENERAL NEWS
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • SPORTS
  • INTERNATIONAL
    • LATEST INTERNATIONAL NEWS
    • INTERNATIONAL SPORTS
No Result
View All Result
Ada Community Online
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EDUCATION
  • SPORTS
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS & TOURISM
  • OPINION
  • NATIONAL NEWS
  • INTERNATIONAL
Home ADA-NEWS

Salt: Multi-billion dollar resource untapped

Prince Dornu-Leiku by Prince Dornu-Leiku
October 21, 2016
in ADA-NEWS, BUSINESS & TOURISM, Featured, GENERAL NEWS, NEWS IN PICTURES, OPINION, Recommended
3
0
SHARES
2
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

SongorGhana has abundant salt deposits but is unable to satisfy West African demand let alone successfully compete with global producers. Known as ‘white gold’, salt is one of the most common minerals on the planet and throughout history has served as an important foundation of civilisation. Its importance cannot be over stated as there are about 14,000 documented benefits of salt, both medicinal and industrial. Salt deposits are inexhaustible but the demand is enormous and currently outstrips supply.

About 100 countries in the world produce and refine salt. From Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, the Americas produce almost as much salt as the rest of the world combined. The US is the leading global producer thanks to the Great Salt Lakes. It is responsible for 22 per cent of the total world production capacity.

Salt production in Ghana started in the 19th century and, aside from fishing, it is the major economic activity of people along its 500km coastline. The salt producing areas in Ghana include the Keta lagoon, the Songhor lagoon, the Densu Delta area, Nyanya lagoon, Oyibi lagoon, Amisa lagoon, Benyah lagoon.Songor Salt mining

Salt as a renewable natural resource contributes billions of Ghana cedis annually to the economy and employs more than 1,500 people. In the ECOWAS sub-region, the demand for industrial salt is estimated at over 3 million tonnes. Ghana and Senegal, the biggest regional players, possess all the right conditions for commercial salt production and together produce 350,000 tonnes per year. But this is not enough to satisfy demand and imports from Brazil, Australia and Europe make up the shortfall.

Research indicates that Ghana has a potential production capacity of more than two million tonnes, but can only manage a maximum of 250,000 tonnes, which represents just 10 per cent of what nature offers on the coast.

For example, although the Songhor Salt Project in the Greater Accra Region has the potential of producing over 150,000 tonnes of the mineral annually, its current output hovers at around 60,000 tonnes, a slight increase on last year’s 46,000 tonnes. Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Niger are among the countries Ghana exports to. Nigeria represents the biggest regional market, but imports high quality salt from Brazil.

At the present rate of production Ghana would be unable to meet the demands of its embryonic petrochemical industry, which requires substantial quantities of salt, and it is likely that Brazil, China, Australia or India would fill the gap. The main challenge facing the industry is lack of start-up capital as well as capital for expansion.

“Salt production is a capital intensive business,” explained Ernest Osei, CEO of Tradevco Salt Production and Trading Company Ltd told the media last year.

“You cannot easily access funding from banks and the cost of borrowing is very expensive in this country. When you go for a loan, it starts attracting interest, even when operations of the company have not started, so you end up paying for something you haven’t yet produced.”

As it stands, many salt producing companies that obtained concessionary loans from the commercial banks have run into huge debts. Others have been unable to secure loans, due to unwillingness of some Designated Financial Institutions (DFIs) to market and disburse the funds. Some companies have folded as a result, while others struggle to break even.

Another block to the industry’s expansion is the difficulty of acquiring coastal land because of legal technicalities or communal tussles over ownership. One such area is Ada, which has been at the centre of stand-offs between local authorities and salt investors. Apart from questions of land ownership, salt is a traditionally venerated mineral and many communities resist what they consider industrial interference. Compared with many of its competitors, Ghana’s salt production technologies are obsolete.

The US and India employ state-of-the art-salt harvesters that are able to collect large quantities of salt within a short time. Ghana’s reliance on more artisanal forms of production comes down to lack of capital. Currently, the industry relies on solar salt mining as the main production method due to the geographic location of the reserves as well as the favourable weather.

There is a clamour for a complete overhaul of the industry in order to make it more competitive, drawing in all the stakeholders – the government through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Minerals Commission, the National Salt Producers Association of Ghana, coastal land authorities and the investors.

It is believed a salt policy separate from the Minerals and Mining Law would lay to rest or at least alleviate the perennial land acquisition problems. Such a policy would spell out how land containing salt deposits should be acquired, taking into consideration the needs of the state, the host community, the investor and the people of Ghana.

Time is not on Ghana’s side given the escalating demand for salt domestically and in the sub-region. Measures must be put in place as soon as possible to help the nation reap the full potential of what nature has freely offered it.

Culled from Joy Online Business (2012)

Previous Post

Ghana Bar Association’s role key in Election 2016 – Dr. Kotei Dzani

Next Post

UEFA to consider Champions League final outside Europe

Prince Dornu-Leiku

Prince Dornu-Leiku

Sports writer, graduate of University of Ghana (BA)

Next Post
UEFA to consider Champions League final outside Europe

UEFA to consider Champions League final outside Europe

Comments 3

  1. cheap madden mobile coins says:
    8 years ago

    Wonderful article! That is the kind of info that are meant to be shared across
    the web. Disgrace on Google for not positioning this publish higher!
    Come on over and seek advice from my web site
    . Thanks =)

    Reply
  2. selling cs go skins for cash says:
    8 years ago

    Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this write-up plus the rest of the site is really good.

    Reply
  3. Lucretia says:
    8 years ago

    Hello it’s me, I am also visiting this site regularly, this web site is genuinely pleasant and
    the users are actually sharing good thoughts.

    Reply

Leave a Comment: Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Latest Video

Read more News from…

  • GENERAL NEWS
  • SPORTS
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS & TOURISM
  • EDUCATION
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • OPINION

About Ada Community

  • ABOUT US
  • HISTORY & CULTURE
  • ASAFOTUFIAMI FESTIVAL
  • ADA-COMMUNITY VIDEOS
  • GALLERY
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • ASAFOTUFIAMI FESTIVAL
  • CONTACT US
  • GALLERY
  • HISTORY & CULTURE
  • HOME
  • VIDEOS

Ada Community Online – © Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • ABOUT US
  • ASAFOTUFIAMI FESTIVAL
  • CONTACT US
  • GALLERY
  • HISTORY & CULTURE
  • HOME
  • VIDEOS

Ada Community Online – © Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved.