The Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund) has invested $10.5m in Miniplast Ghana to support its expansion plans across its manufacturing and recycling segments.

“Supporting local manufacturing and recycling initiatives will help create many decent jobs not only at Miniplast, but across the entire plastics value chain. This impact is further amplified in what is a challenging macroeconomic climate for many Ghanaians,” said Obafemi Awobokun, Investment Manager, Norfund.

Miniplast Ghana is a leading plastics manufacturing company in Ghana and the West African sub-region.

Established in 1988, Miniplast specializes in injection moulding and blomoulding, with its key offerings being products made from High/Low Density Polyethylene (H/LDPE), Polypropylene (PP) and PET Plastics. 

In 2020, Miniplast established an in-house plastics recycling business segment that uses plastic waste that it sources locally and processes into recycled plastic materials.

Headquartered in Accra, Miniplast has a current production capacity of 41 tonnes of plastic per day, and directly employs over 650 people, whilst indirectly giving employment to over 200 more. The company also has waste collection and grinding hubs in Kumasi and Tamale.

Norfund’s investment will go towards purchasing new manufacturing equipment and supporting Miniplast to expand into new product offerings.

Also, the investment will finance new machinery to increase the Company’s recycling capacity to 1,700 tonnes a month, further substituting locally sourced recycled materials for imported plastic resins, and hence, reducing production costs in the process.

This investment is in line with Norfund’s strategy to invest patient capital in scalable enterprises in manufacturing and waste management within Sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition to supporting increased local tax revenue and foreign exchange generation in one of West Africa’s major markets, Norfund’s investment in Miniplast is expected to create more than 850 jobs across the plastics value chain.

Nadim Ghanem, CEO of Miniplast, said:  “Norfund is the ideal partner to assist with our sustainable expansion. We are confident that we will have outstanding ESG results and innovative business impacts for the industry and country, especially with Norfund’s expertise guiding us."

Through this investment, Norfund is supporting efforts to develop a circular economy in Sub-Saharan African markets to help tackle Ghana’s waste management challenges.

Norfund will also look to support Miniplast in its efforts to institutionalise what has historically been a family-run business, particularly on the environmental, social and governance fronts.

“We are excited to be growing our portfolio in Ghana by partnering with the management and owners of Miniplast, a company which is doing important work on the local value addition front whilst also contributing to addressing the country’s plastic waste problem. By investing to further increase the company’s production and recycling efforts, whilst increasing local sourcing, job creation and import substitution, we aim to contribute to the company’s growth and institutionalization, as well as to development,” said Naana Winful Fynn, Regional Director for West Africa for Norfund.

Norfund was advised on this transaction by the following consultants: Emsy Capital, Ernst & Young (Ghana), Norwaste, Control Risks (West Africa) Ltd, Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah(BELA), Wikborg Rein (Norway) and IBIS Environmental Social Consulting (East Africa).