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Ghanian businessman Joseph Siaw Agyepong has unveiled his new GH¢ 5 million ($864, 324) Environmental Sanitation Research Fund (ESRF), which will provide grants to public universities for environmental sanitation research in Ghana. Agyepong launched the initiative through his company, Jospong Group of Companies (JGC).
Morden Ghana reported that the ESRF will provide funding and execution opportunities for practical and sustainable environmental sanitation research solutions.
According to the multimillionaire businessman, the ESRF aims to support “Ghana’s public universities to develop ‘home-grown’ research-driven solutions to address the myriad of challenges impeding the effective management of waste in the country.”
The tycoon added that all public universities can apply for funding to undertake quality research on wide-ranging sanitation issues. Areas of focus should include incineration for energy recovery, leachate management and treatment, improving the quality of compost and waste collection, waste treatment dynamics and economics.
The fund was launched on April 30, 2020 by JGC in conjunction with Ghana’s Sanitation and Water Resources Ministry, Education Ministry, Graphic Communications Group Limited and Africa Environmental Sanitation Consult.
JGC is one of Ghana’s most diversified conglomerates with operations in Africa and Asia. Although JGC has business interests in about 14 economic sectors, its core operations are waste management, ICT, finance, automation and equipment.
Agyepong also founded the J.A. Plant Pool Gh Ltd., a steel plant in Ghana constructed at over $40 million. The JAPP is a supplier of heavy-duty trucks, earth-moving equipment, luxurious buses, lubricants and tires in Ghana and other African countries. So far, the plant has imported over 1,000 Yutong buses and 900 heavy-duty equipment and trucks to Africa.Last year, Ghana Web reported that JGP represented 16 Chinese companies, eight Indian companies and five European companies in Ghana, generating a trade volume of $4.36 billion as of 2013. The company has also executed $100 million worth of contracts with its international business partners.
