Beta Veg Oil inaugurated a shea and soy processing unit on Monday, 12 October, in Kongodékro, in the Ivorian municipality of Bouaké, with an announced annual capacity of 70,000 tonnes of raw materials. The company expects 450 direct jobs once the industrial set-up reaches its target output.
The first activity is the production of shea butter. A second phase, announced for December, is to add refining of soybean oil and production of oilcake for animal feed, according to information provided at the inauguration.
The figure of 450 jobs is a company target, not a headcount already recorded. Around 250 day labourers were mobilised during the set-up phase, according to the report published by Ivorian media outlet Koaci. These temporary positions should not be confused with the direct jobs announced for operations.
Sourcing is also meant to reach rural incomes. Beta Veg Oil plans to buy 20% of the shea used by the plant directly from women collectors. This share is expected to reduce the number of intermediaries for a portion of the volumes, but no purchase price or detailed timetable has been made public.
The ceremony was attended by Ivorian ministers Bruno Nabagné Koné, Amadou Koné and Ibrahim Kalil Konaté. The Ministry of Commerce had listed the inauguration on its agenda for 12 October, which confirms the date and location of the event.
The plant contributes to the municipal Bouaké Nouveau programme, which aims to process locally half of regional agricultural output and create 10,000 direct industrial jobs by 2030. These two goals concern the programme as a whole and should not be attributed to the Beta Veg Oil unit alone.