Weekly Mail Reporter
MILL and bakery owner Sam Molope is the first beneficiary of the United States trade drive into South Africa.
The US Trade & Development Agency is providing a $40 000 grant to finance a feasibility study by Ga- Rankuwa Milling into the building of a flour mill in North-West province.
Ga-Rankuwa Milling is a joint venture between local entrepreneur Molope and the black-owned Brooks Sausage Corporation of the US.
The aim is a multi-million rand flour mill, which the agency hopes will lead to the expansion of Ga- Rankuwa Milling’s four bakeries and maize mill.
Initially the new mill will supply the Molope-owned bakeries in Ga-Rankuwa, Rumolope, Mamelodi and Atteridgeville. In the longer term it is understood that the mill is intended to serve the needs of US fast-foods companies in the region.
Molope also has ties with US Wheat Associates, a US market development organisation for American wheat farmers whose main aim is to encourage the import of American wheat.
The marketing organisation has recently completed a feasibility study on installing small to medium- sized bakeries in South Africa. The plan is that a large network of new bakeries will be owned and operated by black South African entrepreneurs.