The Sh100 million Busia Grain Millers will employ 60 people when it is commissioned in October.
Investor Gilbert Wesonga said the mill, situated near the weighbridge in Busia town, will produce Nguvu Maize and Nguvu Cassava flour varieties.
Wesonga spoke to journalists in Busia town on Saturday after a funds drive in aid of Sikula Sacco Society Limited at Mundika Primary School.
He appealed to Busia people in the diaspora to invest in the county and reduce unemployment. “There are good returns on investment at home contrary to perception,” he said.
His investment comes after three factories initiated by the county government between 2014 and 2015 stalled and are now ghost projects.
The Sh3.3 billion Everest Juice factory launched by Governor Sospeter Ojaamong at Ikapolok does not function. Also non-operational is the Sh10 million cassava factory in Teso South that was expected to serve 15,000 cassava farmers in Busia, Bungoma and Siaya counties.
Another stalled project is an organic fertiliser factory built by Korangol, a South Korean company.
Busia Grain Millers will produce two tons of flour per hour or 48 tons per day.
County Trade director Fredrick Naku was appreciative that a local person has opted to invest at home. He urged other residents to emulate Wesonga.
Naku thanked the national government for waiving Sh13.5 million tax in the spirit of industrialisation, one of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda.
Busia Grain Millers will be the second milling plant in the border county after Western Deluxe Maize Millers launched in April 2016. Its Halisi maize flour is popular in the region.
