FreezeLink-and-Girsal-revolutionuze-Agric-Industry-in-Ghana

Accra, 19 July 2023 – FreezeLink, the leading provider of cold chain logistics and engineering services, has formed a strategic partnership with GIRSAL (Ghana Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending) to enhance the agricultural sector in Ghana. This collaboration aims to address the significant post-harvest losses in the country’s perishable food export market while de-risking agricultural lending.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MOU), FreezeLink will leverage its expertise in temperature-controlled storage, transport, and engineering services to support GIRSAL beneficiaries. Through innovative solutions such as modular, on-farm cold storage, and packhouses, powered by solar energy, FreezeLink will enable farmers and aggregators to pre-cool, store, and transport their produce at optimal conditions, to local and global customers. This will extend the shelf life, reduce post-harvest losses, and increase the market value of perishable food exports, especially fruit and vegetables thereby enriching farmers at a time when the export-led growth agenda has never been a higher priority in Ghana.

GIRSAL, known for its credit risk guarantees to financial institutions, will collaborate with FreezeLink to identify suitable beneficiaries for its farm-to-port cold chain services, which include storage, transport, and engineering services. By facilitating access to financing and providing technical support, GIRSAL aims to strengthen the agricultural sector’s knowledge and understanding while boosting lending to the industry.

According to a recent report by the Danish Agriculture & Food Council/Trade Council Accra, Ghana faces annual post-harvest losses amounting to $1.9 billion. This collaboration between FreezeLink and GIRSAL seeks to tap into this immense revenue potential by revolutionizing post-harvest loss management through efficient cold chain logistics.

“This is an exciting moment for current and future exporters of perishable food in Ghana – especially our long-suffering fruit and vegetable farmers. A key vision for FreezeLink has always been to build “Horticulture Highways”, from farms in West Africa to local and global customers. Realizing this vision requires finance, sectoral expertise, and temperature-controlled logistics – this partnership brings all these critical elements together and, as a result, our exporters will be able to increase their profits – for the good of their communities and our country. ” said Owusu Akoto, CEO of FreezeLink.”

“We are excited to partner with FreezeLink as we jointly strive to revolutionize Ghana’s agricultural sector. With GIRSAL’s Credit Risk Guarantees (CRG) and provision of technical assistance to agribusinesses, combined with FreezeLink’s expertise in temperature-controlled storage and transport, we are confident in our ability to transform post-harvest loss management, enhance profitability for our beneficiaries, and propel Ghana’s export-led growth agenda to unprecedented success” – Mr. Takyi Sraha, COO of GIRSAL.

The collaboration also aligns with FreezeLink’s vision to expand its operations in its home country, having been contracted to deliver fruit and vegetable export cold chain projects in Benin and Togo.

About FreezeLink:

FreezeLink is West Africa’s cold chain logistics one-stop shop, offering temperature-controlled storage, transport, and engineering services. FreezeLink enables customers handling perishable food and pharmaceutical products to enhance profitability while simplifying cold chain operations. From farm to consumer, FreezeLink ensures the unbroken cold chain that is needed for its customers to thrive.

About GIRSAL:

GIRSAL (Ghana Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending) is a pioneering initiative that provides credit risk guarantees to financial institutions to facilitate lending in the agricultural sector. By offering technical support and capacity building, GIRSAL promotes sustainable agribusiness practices and enhances the sector’s access to financing, driving economic growth and food security in Ghana.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Patrick Amoaku – patrick.amoaku@freezelink.co