March 18, 2025
2,5 years after Norfund’s investment in Miniplast in Ghana, the company has doubled the amount of plastic recycled, created 700 new jobs and more than tripled the share of women in the workforce.
«The investment in Miniplast showcases how we can attain multiple goals simultaneously. It is an inspiring example of how contributing to solving a significant environmental challenge through private initiatives, can also contribute to creating jobs and give more opportunities for women, which is an important goal for Norway”, said Åsmund Aukrust, Norway’s Minister of International Development, visiting the company in Ghana 18th March.
In July 2023 Norfund announced a USD 10.5 million investment in Miniplast Ghana Ltd, a leading plastics manufacturer based in Accra. The capital has gone to purchasing new machinery to increase the company’s capacity to use more locally sourced recycled materials to substitute imported plastic resins.
“At the end of 2023, we had 980 employees, of which 909 were men and 71 were women. Today we have 1700 employees of which more than 500 are women”, says Nadim Ghanem, CEO of Miniplast.
Poverty in Ghana had been on a downward trend since the 1990s but went on the rise after the COVID-19 pandemic. Weak economic growth and high inflation—particularly in food prices—have worsened living standards, pushing more people into poverty (World Bank).
“Having a job to go to and an income to live on is the way out of poverty for most people, whether in Norway or here in Ghana. Work for all is definitely “job number one” also in the Government’s efforts to fighting poverty at a global level,” says Minister Aukrust.
“Having a job making ends meet, is key to ending poverty all over the world. As people and companies are paying taxes, more resources can be put towards basic services such as health and education, making countries fend for their own people – the ultimate goal for international development”, said Minister Aukrust.
The minister is pleased to see how Miniplast has increased the share of women in the workforce.
“There will be no sustainable development if only half of the population is involved. Thus, gender equality and women’s inclusion in the workforce are essential to combat poverty,” said Aukrust.
Proving functioning models to fight plastic pollution
More than 171 trillion pieces of plastic are estimated to be floating in the world’s oceans and could further nearly triple by 2040. Establishing systems for collection of plastic waste is however complicated even in high-income countries. It is even more challenging in countries where waste regulation and producer responsibility are often lacking.
“Plastic recycling is necessary for the environment and obviously the right thing to do, but It is only viable here in Africa when it is economically viable”, says Nadim Ghanem, CEO of Miniplast.
Since Norfund’s investment, Miniplast has almost doubled the amount of recycled plastic in the production of new products from 800 tons in 2023 to 1500 tons in 2025 per month.
“The contributions of this investment may seem small compared to the overwhelming challenge of plastic pollution. However, by showcasing a functioning model like Miniplast, we believe we can enable the development of an industry and the promotion of a culture of waste management, while creating a large number of jobs, says Obafemi Awobokun, project manager for Miniplast in Norfund.
Increased standards on health, environment and safety
In partnership with Norfund, Miniplast has developed its capacity within health, environment and safety, and the company was recently certified as having world-class systems for Quality Management, Occupational Health and Safety Management, Environmental Management, and Food Safety Management (ISO 14001:2015, ISO 45001:2018, FSSC 22000 in 2024, in addition to ISO 9001).
“The certifications reflect Miniplast’s commitment to making a positive contribution to both the environment and society, but we would not have achieved this without our partnership with Norfund. We are confident that the development will support Miniplast in acquiring new customers, entering new markets, and developing new business lines”, says Nadim Ghanem, CEO of Miniplast.