Ghana
Rubber
Estates
Limited
(GREL)
Company Profile and History
GREL
started
as
a
small
private
plantation
established
by
R.
T.
Briscoe
in
1957
at
Dixcove
with
a
plantation
size
of
923
hectares.
The
plantation
was
nationalized
into
the
Agricultural
Development
Corporation
(ADC)
in
1960
and
later,
State
Farms
Corporation
in
1962.
The
Ghana
Government,
in
1967,
established
a
joint
venture
company
with
Firestone
Tyre
Company
to
take
over
the
rubber
plantation.
This
joint
venture
company
was
called
Ghana
Rubber
Estates
Limited
(GREL).
By
then
the
plantation
had
expanded
to
39,390
hectares.
Firestone
opted
out
of
the
venture
in
1981
and
the
greater
part
of
the
plantation
was
abandoned.
GREL
was
rehabilitated
between
1988
and
1996
during
which
4,000
hectares
of
rubber
was
planted.
GREL
was
privatised
in
1997.
The
company
receives
technical
assistance
from
Michelin
which
bys
virtually
all
its
rubber
production
for
its
tire
manufacturing
activities.
Since
1995
GREL
is
the
main
operator
for
village
plantations
funded
by
the
AFD
(French
Development
Agency).
Currently
the
company
has
13,093
hectares
of
land
planted
with
rubber.
A
total
of
9,555
hectares
are
under
tapping.
It
was
adjudged
the
6th
Best
Company
and
the
overall
best
in
the
Agricultural
Industry
in
the
2009
Ghana
Club
100
rankings.
In Country Location
49/11
Nzema
Road,
Harbour
Business
Area,
Takoradi,
Ghana:
Telephone:
+233
31
22577/22578/22079
Telefax:
+233
31
22515
Services and Products
Rubber
production
Number of Employees
335
salaried
employees
and
waged
workers
and
about
1,189
persons
employed
by
sub-contractors
Financial Information
Presently,
Ghana
produces
15,000
tonnes
of
rubber
per
year
and
could
reach
50,000
tonnes
by
the
year
2020.
Market Share
GREL
is
the
largest
company
in
Ghana’s
rubber
industry
and
the
only
natural
rubber
producer,
representing
95%
of
rubber
production.
The
company
exports
95%
of
the
rubber
produced.
Business Objective
Develop
rubber
as
an
industrial
crop
in
Ghana
with
improved
planting
materials
and
best
farming
practices.
Business Model
The
production
capacity
of
natural
rubber
was
declining
due
to
the
age
and
quality
of
trees
because
most
of
the
plantations
were
planted
in
1950’s
and
the
rate
of
planting
was
slow
coupled
with
the
fact
that
GREL
do
not
have
the
land
to
expand
its
cultivations.
The
ROU
project
was
introduced
to
meet
the
high
demand
for
natural
rubber
in
addition
to
giving
economic
empowerment
to
small
scale
farmers
to
alleviate
poverty.
A
Rubber
Outgrower
Plantations
Project
(ROPP)
was
launched
in
1995
with
the
vision
to
spearhead
economic
empowerment
and
growth
through
rubber
cultivation.
The
project
also
aims
to
deliver
quality
extension
services
to
rubber
outgrowers
through
advance
and
innovative
technology
by
staff
of
GREL,
to
enable
outgrowers
to
enjoy
sustainable
income,
better
living
and
to
contribute
to
national
development.
Under
phase
one
of
the
project
from
1995
to
1999,
400
outgrowers
were
assisted
to
plant
a
little
over
1,200
hectares
over
a
five-year
period,
while
3,500
hectares
of
old
rubber
plantations
of
individuals
and
co-operatives
were
rehabilitated
as
against
the
target
of
1,300
hectares.
Forty-one
kilometres
of
roads
were
rehabilitated
under
the
first
phase
of
the
project
and
that
was
financed
by
Agence
Francaise
de
Development
(AFD),
IDA/World
Bank
and
the
government.
Phase
two
of
the
project,
launched
in
2000
entailed
the
planting
of
2,855
hectares
of
rubber
trees
by
the
500
outgrowers
who
were
selected
for
that
phase
of
the
project.
A
total
of
20
kilometres
of
roads
were
rehabilitated.
Ownership of Business
GREL
became
wholly
state-owned
in
1980
when
Firestone
sold
its
shares
in
GREL
to
the
Ghana
Government.
However,
the
Ghana
Government
entered
into
a
financing
agreement
with
the
then
Caisse
Française
de
Development
(CFD)
now
Agence
Française
de
Development
to
rehabilitate
and
manage
the
company's
rubber
plantation
and
to
build
a
new
rubber
processing
plant
at
Apimenim.
After
the
rehabilitation
in
1996,
the
French
management
company,
SIPH
became
the
major
shareholder
of
the
company.
SIPH
was
in
1999
acquired
by
the
SIFCOM
Group.
Participation
has
since
been
taken
over
by
African
Infrastructure
Group
as
well
as
Michelin.
Benefits Offered and Relations with Government
When
the
Rawlings
government
initiated
the
first
phase
of
the
Economic
Recovery
Program
(ERP)
in
1984,
agriculture
was
identified
as
the
economic
sector
that
could
rescue
Ghana
from
financial
ruin.
Accordingly,
since
that
time,
the
government
has
invested
significant
funds
in
the
rehabilitation
of
agriculture.
Primarily
through
the
use
of
loans
and
grants,
the
government
has
directed
capital
toward
repairing
and
improving
the
transportation
and
distribution
infrastructure
serving
export
crops
Except
for
specific
development
programs,
however,
the
government
has
tried
to
allow
the
free
market
to
promote
higher
producer
prices
and
to
increase
efficiency.
The
government
attempted
to
reduce
its
role
in
marketing
and
assistance
to
farmers
in
several
ways.
In
particular
the
government
established
a
new
farmers'
organization,
the
Ghana
National
Association
of
Farmers
and
Fishermen,
in
early
1991
to
replace
the
Ghana
Federation
of
Agricultural
Cooperatives.
The
new
organization
was
to
be
funded
by
the
farmers
themselves
to
operate
as
a
cooperative
venture
at
the
district,
regional,
and
national
levels.
Although
the
government
argued
that
it
did
not
want
to
be
accused
of
manipulating
farmers,
the
lack
of
government
financial
support
again
put
subsistence
producers
at
a
disadvantage.
The
government
has
encouraged
the
export
rather
than
the
local
processing
of
rubber,
rehabilitating
more
than
3,000
hectares
of
plantations
specifically
for
export
production
rather
than
revitalizing
the
local
Bonsa
Tire
Company,
which
could
produce
only
400
tires
per
day
in
1988
despite
its
installed
capacity
for
1,500
per
day.
The
AFD
meanwhile
continue
to
support
the
development
of
competitive
agricultural
productions.
New
financing
will
be
concentrated
on
a
small
number
of
commodities,
with
high
economic
potential
(rubber,
palm
oil,
rice).
AFD
will
also
support
the
Ghana
Government
to
build
strategic
policies
and
action
plans
for
these
commodities.
Tax
Holiday:
Tree
Crops-(coffee,
oil
palm,
sheanut,
rubber
and
coconut-)
have
tax
holiday
of
10yrs
from
date
of
first
harvest.
In
2002
Kwame
Awuah
Asante,
the
former
Commercial
Controller
of
GREL
told
a
Fast
Track
Court
that
the
company
made
"political
payments"
between
1996
and
2000.
Product Development
Phase
three
of
ROPP
became
operational
in
2006
and
entails
the
selection
of
an
additional
1,750
outgrowers
from
the
Western
and
Central
regions
to
plant
7,000
hectares
of
rubber
trees
between
2006
and
2010.
The
financial
operator
of
the
whole
project
is
the
National
Investment
Bank
Limited
while
the
technical
operator
is
GREL.
Under
the
three
phases
of
the
project,
a
total
number
of
2,650
outgrower
farmers
have
been
assisted
to
plant
11,055
hectares
of
rubber
at
a
total
cost
of
26.4
million
euros
while
688
outgrower
farms
involving
1,885.95
hectares
are
being
tapped.
According
to
the
Managing
Director
of
GREL,
Marc
Genot,
the
AFD
is
ready
to
finance
a
fourth
phase
of
the
project.
He
said
the
fourth
phase
was
under
study
and
that
it
was
expected
that
3,750
farmers
from
the
Western,
Central
and
Eastern
regions
would
be
assisted
to
plant
15,000
hectares
of
rubber.
A
system
for
farm
extension
was
introduced
in
2009
to
assist
those
rubber
outgrowers
already
in
production
wishing
to
extend
their
farms.