“This is a big development, as at the moment there are no facilities”
CT Technologies is a cold chain solution provider founded more than 30 years ago with a vision to design and build sustainable facilities for food preservation and processing that are energy-saving and at the same time up to the highest standards in terms of hygiene and production.
CT Technologies was founded in 1989 in Denmark where their head office is and they have their operational office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, an office in Indonesia, one in Philippines, one in Benin and in Ghana.
The company is currently active in West Africa, in Benin where they are building a temperature-controlled facility at the Cotonou airport. All of Benin’s fresh produce exports will be stored in this warehouse while awaiting the planes for shipment. The facility will also be used to store imports of meat, chicken and pharmaceuticals before distribution.
“This is a big development, as at the moment there are no facilities,” explains Roudy Akiki, CCO for Africa at CT-Technologies. “We are also building smaller modules for a client to enable him to expand his business from dry product to perishables.”
CT-Technologies has just delivered facilities in Ghana and Nigeria which will be used for frozen meat and chicken, and they are looking at providing more cooling facilities for fresh produce in these countries.
In East Africa the company has built a temperature-controlled airport facility in Burundi which will store fresh products such as pineapples and mango before they are exported; but will also receive the imported frozen goods and pharma products.
“These facilities are designed and built by our company, we have also installed warehouse management systems to scan all products in and out, and the produce can be tracked back to source. We are also first to introduce Quad Core in TEMA Ghana, a technology that will allow using thinner panels for better performance keeping the temperature inside cold and contribute in reducing the electricity bills; We are one of very few companies who use Ammonia refrigeration system of 0 GWP in Africa to reduce as much as possible the impact on the environment.”
In many African countries it is a real challenge to keep the cold chain intact, most fresh produce is trucked around in normal trucks with no cooling and around 50% of product is lost due to this.
“Our projects in Burundi and Benin are financed by the World Bank, the idea is to develop the cold chain by installing smaller facilities throughout the countries to complete the cold chain. It is important that produce is kept at a controlled temperature from when it leaves the farms,” said Roudy.
“We are receiving interest from other countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Senegal and Kenya all of whom are trying to improve their cold chains. Many African countries have a high rate of unemployment in younger people and many leave the farms to look for work elsewhere, this kind of investment will create opportunities for younger people. It could motivate them to stay on the farm, produce and take ownership of their produce.”