International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is to invest US$7m (€5.5m) to support the expansion of leading Kenyan horticultural company Vegpro Group into Ghana.
According to the corporation, the project will help Vegpro expand into a new market and allow it to develop new, sustainable production while also creating jobs and establishing a supply chain that includes small-scale farmers.
It is understood that Vegpro will use the funding to develop a 1,070ha farm in Ghana that will boost its vegetable production and therefore allow it to meet increasing demand from clients in Europe.
The company is set to work with 800 smallholder farmers in Ghana, giving them access to international markets for the first time.
IFC has worked with Vegpro since 1995 and has helped the group to become one of Kenya's leading agribusiness companies.
James Cartwright, business development director of Vegpro Group commented: 'Vegpro will apply the lessons from thirty years of horticulture business in Kenya, to create similar success and productivity `in Ghana`.'
Crops set to be grown by Vegpro in Ghana include chillies, butternut squash and baby corn.
To that end, Vegpro plans to train as many as 1,500 new workers during the next two years.
