Arlington, VA – Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency announced grant funding for a feasibility study to support the safe distribution of food and medicine across Ghana. USTDA’s assistance will facilitate the deployment of temperature-controlled logistics infrastructure for FreezeLink, a Ghanaian company specializing in cold chain logistics.
“Cold storage technologies have an immeasurable impact on our health and well-being. They maintain the quality and safety of what we consume and are a critical part of the supply chain that has supported the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States and around the world,” said Enoh T. Ebong, USTDA’s Acting Director. “Our partnership with FreezeLink will strengthen its ability to serve the people of Ghana and lead to opportunities for U.S. firms to supply the technologies to help make that happen.”
USTDA’s feasibility study will provide a technical and commercial analysis of implementing a cold chain infrastructure network consisting of storage facilities and services across Ghana. The study will also include a detailed market assessment of existing cold chain services. Virginia-based World Food Logistics Organization will undertake the study.
“This is a great moment for Ghana and West Africa” said Mr. Owusu Akoto, Chief Executive Officer of FreezeLink. “Almost two-thirds of our fresh fruit and vegetables spoil before reaching consumers and, as we know, 25% of liquid vaccines spoil globally – primarily because of broken cold chains. These facts impoverish our farmers, affect our health and waste our environmental resources. By supporting the deployment of best-in-class U.S. cold chain infrastructure and services here in Ghana, this USTDA study will improve health, wealth and environment sustainability in our country, making this is special day – not only for Ghana but for the countries in our region that we serve as a trading hub.”
This activity supports the Prosper Africa initiative, a U.S. government initiative to substantially increase two-way trade and investment between the United States and Africa.
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The U.S. Trade and Development Agency helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies. USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project preparation and partnership building activities that develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in partner countries.