In line with its plan to diversify its mineral holdings, the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) is positioning itself to make investments in the industrial salt sector.
If the Ada Songhor Salt project’s resuscitation plan is carried out as planned, salt is expected to become one of Ghana’s top industrial earners by 2030 and one of the country’s significant foreign exchange earners by 2026, according to MIIF’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng.
This follows the plan of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) to strategically focus on the sector. “The plan to boost salt production and the development of its allied value chain should yield about US$2billion to the Ghanaian economy beginning 2027, with the potential to create more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in the next five years from just the Songhor Salt pans alone,” Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng said after a one-day working visit to Ada.
The Chief Executive Officer of MIIF, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, is optimistic that the planned focus on the mineral will generate new economy vibrancy for the areas known for salt production such as Ada, Sege, Keta, Ningo and Winneba.
Mr. Koranteng intimated that, MIIF is developing a classification strategy for high priority minerals such as lithium, limestone, granite, diamond and salt. “Classifying salt as a high priority mineral means we will invest in the mineral value chain development; we will de-risk its funding methods and help with the acquisition of relevant technology that revitalises the industry”.
There are at least 14,000 uses for salt, with the chemical industry being the one that uses it the most to make various chemicals. It is commonly utilised as a raw material in the creation of soda ash, chlorine, and caustic soda. Other use for salt include detergents, de-icing, textiles, fertilisers, and the processing of oil and gas.