The Ghana Forestry Commission (GFC) has agreed a memorandum of understanding with a Swedish firm Greenland Resources for investment in forest plantations to feed a pulp and paper plant. The plantation component envisages planting in three different forest reserves identified in the Savannah region.
The proposed paper mill will be set up in the southern part of the country to produce paper for export to the West African sub-region. Torbjorn Johannson, president of Greenland Resources said he estimates about 200,000 hectares of plantations would be planted in the first seven years.
The CEO of the GFC, Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, who signed for Ghana said the project would be a gamechanger in Ghana’s forestry management. He added the project will radically transform the whole forestry sector and enable the sector to contribute substantially to the GDP of Ghana.
Ghana currently imports paper and paper products at a cost of around US$2590 million annually. Meanwhile, as part of the Forestry Development Master Plan (FDMP), the GFC has developed a comprehensive regulatory framework for the sustainable management and use of Savannah woodlands which will come into force in 2020.