|
 COMPANY PROFILE
CASHPRO COMPANY LIMITED was incorporated as a limited liability company in 1990. The company’s name was then Cashew and Spices Products Limited. The name was changed to Cashpro Company Limited in 1998.
The company is wholly owned by Ghanaian entrepreneurs with varied backgrounds in Agronomy, Economics, Finance and Transport.
Cashpro’s line of business includes but not limited to:
Haulage of Goods
Development of Real Estate
Financial Market Activities
Purchasing and Marketing of Agriculture produce
(domestic and export)
The turnover of Cashpro has grown from US$ 14,000 in 1990 to US$ 63 million as at 1998.
FINANCIAL OUTLOOK (Cedis)
|
1994
|
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
Turnover
|
8,679,
515,745 |
35,465,
369,499 |
63,794,
046,290 |
92,575,
394,761 |
151,047,
008,419 |
Profit Before Tax
|
69,096,
966 |
239,477,
705 |
288,762,
929 |
749,600,
574 |
962,938,
549 |
Profit After Tax
|
69,096,
966 |
239,477,
705 |
112,120,
924 |
386,193,
631 |
962,938,
549 |
HOW CASHPRO OPERATES
Cashpro has so far operated successfully in commodities trading and acquired expertise in international marketing and export of agricultural produce.
The company is guided by the following strategic operational policies:
Maintaining the company’s position as the leading Private Cocoa Buying Company.
Maintaining the company’s leading position in the cashew industry.
Purchasing and marketing agricultural produce of the highest quality.
Offering extension service to its farmers.
Transporting goods in the most efficient and effective way.
Meeting the housing needs of the population at the least possible cost.
In line with its policy of maintaining the leading position in the various sectors it operates in, Cashpro registered four subsidiary companies in 1998 to deal with the various lines of operation.
They are:
Cashtrade Company Limited
Comtrans Company Limited
Cashfarm Company Limited
Cashred Company Limited
Cashpro has also acquired majority shares in Premus Company Limited , a licensed coffee and cocoa buying company.
Cashtrade Company Limited deals with the purchasing and marketing of agricultural produce such as cashew nuts, cereals and legumes, medicinal plants and seeds.
Comtrans Company Limited is a haulage company which is owned by Cashpro ltd. and other shareholders. Its activities include, among others, haulage of cocoa and other commodities.
Cashfarm Company Limited operates and manages the farms of the holding company. Currently, 350 acres of cashew nuts have been cultivated at Gomoa Mprumem in the Central Region while 500 acres of cereals and legumes have been cultivated at Gomoa Abaasa also in the Central Region on an out-grower basis.
Cashred Company Limited is a Real Estates development company. Cashpro, the holding company, has acquired large tracts of land in various parts of Accra to be utilised for housing estates. Cashred will start full operation by the end of 1999.
Premus Company Limited is a licensed cocoa and coffee buying company. With the acquisition of this company, Cashpro now purchases coffee for export.
INTERNAL ORGANISATION
The activities of the company are controlled by the Board of Directors and the day to day implementation of policies handled by the Managing Director assisted by his two deputies and General Managers for Cocoa, Finance and Administration.
Each of the subsidiary companies is headed by a General Manager who reports to the Managing Director of Cashpro Company Limited. Policy decisions are taken at Board level and these include investments, allocation of resources, marketing strategies and product development.
Cashpro and its subsidiaries employ a total of 900 people mostly in the purchasing operation.
OPERATING PERFORMANCE – AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE
 Cashew Nuts
Cashew nut is a very important crop. It has high value on the international market and, therefore, has the potential of generating substantial foreign exchange for the country.
During the Nkrumah regime in the 1960s, cashew nut was cultivated at Odidja near Kasoa in the Greater Accra Region on a very large scale. But when the Nkrumah Government was overthrown, the trees were abandoned and, with time, cut off for use as fuel wood.
Cashpro started operation during the 1990 Crop Year and purchased 13.26 metric tones of cashew nuts valued at US$ 7,690.80.
Cashpro was the only exporting company in that year and also in subsequent years until 1994 when other companies set in.
Between 1990 and 1998, Cashpro exported raw cashew nuts in shell worth US$ 1,357,169.33.
The company has established plantation farms to enable it strengthen its supply base and increase exports.
Cocoa
The Government of Ghana in 1992 decided to grant licenses to private companies to purchase cocoa as Buying Agents of Ghana COCOBOD.
|
Cashpro was one of the companies registered and commenced the business of buying cocoa internally during the 1993 Light Crop Cocoa Season. Operating with 30 societies, Cashpro purchased 2,372.11 metric tones of cocoa beans valued at 730,609,880.00 cedis.
By the end of 1998 Cashpro was operating 600 societies, each well equipped with qualified staff and tools of the trade. During the 1997/98 season, Cashpro purchased a total of 65,860 metric tones of cocoa beans valued at nearly 120 billion cedis. The table and charts below depict the company’s performance from 1993 to date.
COCOA PURCHASES
| Year |
Total (MT)
|
Total (cedis) |
1993/94
|
26,276.26 |
8,093,088,080 |
1994/95
|
46,156.60 |
32,309,620,000 |
1995/96
|
61,267.38 |
51,464,599,200 |
1996/97
|
58,794.00 |
70,552,800,000 |
1997/98
|
65,860.00 |
118,548,000,000 |
| *1998/99 |
75,000.00 |
168,750,000,000 |
* Projected
Cereals and Legumes
During the 1995/96 crop year the company went into the marketing of cereals and legumes and has since performed creditably. The commodities traded in include maize, cowpea, groundnuts and soya beans. In the 1997/98 season alone Cashpro purchase over 3 billion cedis worth of maize from farmers. This area of operation provides ready market for farmers and helps reduce post-harvest losses.
Griffonia Seeds
In 1997 Cashpro started exporting Griffonia Seeds, a medicinal plant that is used as an ingredient in the preparation of medicines such as anti-depressants. Griffonia seed helps with appetite and weight control and acts as a sleep aid, minimises pre-menstrual symptoms and helps in treating 15 mood and neurological disorder.
The company has since exported 928.6 million worth of Griffonia seeds.
AWARDS RECEIVED
Cashpro is a proud member of Ghana Club 100, a club of the top 100 companies in the country. Cashpro was ranked 24th in terms of turnover for 1995 and 17th for 1998. It also placed 9th by percentage change in pre-tax profits for the same period.
National Award for Export Achievement
Cashpro was the recipient of the prestigious Annual National Award for Export Achievement from 1992 to 1995. Through this award, the company was recognised for its exceptional courage in reviving the cashew nuts export industry in Ghana thereby bringing employment to many farmers and contributing towards the national foreign exchange generation drive.
CONTRIBUTION TO NATIONAL/SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Profit sharing with Farmers
Cashpro has instituted a policy of sharing part of its profits with Cocoa and Cashew farmers through whose toil the company’s operations have been successful. This profit sharing policy allows Cashpro to reward, on an annual basis, societies from whom the company purchases cocoa beans and cashew nuts.
Sponsorship of Medical Students
Each year, Cashpro sponsors four students, two from the University of Ghana Medical School, Korle-Bu and two from the School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, for their clerkship outside the country.
FUTURE OBJECTIVES
Real Estate Development
In the area of Real Estate, Cashred Company Limited will start full operation by the end of 1999. The housing products the company intends to offer are office accommodation, residential units and recreational centres.
Financial Market Activities
Cashpro intends to enter the financial market by establishing a Bank which would be involved in deposit mobilisation, money market activities, mortgaging, debentures, portfolio management, etc.
Processing of Seeds, Nuts and Other Food Items
Seeds and Nuts
We are almost through with preparations for the processing of seeds and nuts such as soya, shea and cashew.
Cocoa
Cashpro intends concluding negotiations with Government and our financiers for the establishment of a cocoa processing plant as part of our diversification strategy.
Starch Production
Cashpro’s medium term plan is to produce starch for the textile, pharmaceutical and building industries based on locally produced raw materials such as cassava and sweet potato. |
© World INvestment NEws, 1999.
This is the electronic edition of the special country report on Ghana published in Forbes
December 13th 1999 Issue.
Developed by AgenciaE.Tv |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GHANA
