Banfora: Minister Poda is satisfied with the progress of the maize mill at the Faso flour mill. The Minister of Industry and Trade, Serge Gnaniodem Poda, accompanied by the Governor of the Tannounyan region, Patrice Y©y©, and regional administrative authorities, carried out a field visit on Saturday in Banfora to the Faso flour mill (MINOFA) and the Comobakery-pastry shop.
According to Burkina Information Agency, this visit aimed to assess the progress of investments undertaken within the framework of the national policy for the industrialization and local processing of agricultural products. The first stage of this visit took the ministerial delegation to the site of the Faso mill, where a maize processing unit is under construction. This infrastructure, built on the instructions of the President of Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traor©, is part of the vision to promote the industrialization of Burkina Faso through the local processing of agricultural raw materials.
The minister highlighted that the strategy aims to strengthen the country's food sovereignty, create added value from national productions, and supply both the national and sub-regional markets with agri-food products. Following his site visit, the minister expressed his satisfaction with the progress of the work. He noted that although some technical constraints have caused a slight delay, the completion rate is estimated at 45% after five months of execution, for a contractual period of eleven months.
The minister urged the company in charge of the work to accelerate the pace to meet the deadlines while ensuring the quality of the work. He also mentioned that these infrastructures are being built by state-owned companies, in line with the government policy aimed at promoting domestic production and consumption. The minister emphasized the ambition to produce what is consumed and consume what is produced in Burkina Faso.
The delegation also visited the ComoBakery-Pastry Shop, a former bakery revived by MINOFA. According to Serge Gnaniodem Poda, this pilot unit is the starting point for a vast program to create bakeries in various regions of Burkina Faso. The objective is to locally process the flour produced by national industrial units to manufacture bread and other pastry products from Burkinabe agricultural raw materials.
The minister appreciated the achievements at the bakery and provided guidance to the manager and the Director General of MINOFA to improve its operation. He announced that the next bakeries in the program will be located in Bobo-Dioulasso and then in Ouagadougou, aiming to extend this dynamic of agri-food transformation to the entire national territory.